Extra Police Presence Planned For 1st Two Weeks Of School In HoCo

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — As students walk to and are being driven to school starting soon, Howard County police officers will be on the roadways helping ensure their safety. Through a back-to-school program called H.A.S.T.E. (Helping Arriving Students Through Enforcement), officers will focus on enforcing speed, seat belt and child safety seat laws in school zones.

Traffic patrols will be in place on roadways surrounding elementary, middle and high schools for the first two weeks of the school year. Officers will identify drivers who are speeding in those areas and will be checking for seat belt and child safety seat use.

Police also remind drivers that buses serving the Howard County Public School System have been outfitted with external cameras, which are designed to discouraging motorists from passing buses illegally. The state of Maryland’s fine for illegally passing a school bus is $250.

“We have seen a concerning number of violations for drivers illegally passing school buses, particularly in the Route 1 corridor,” Howard County Police Chief Lisa Myers said. “We want drivers to be clear that vehicles traveling in both directions must stop when a school bus’s lights are activated and the stop sign is extended.”

The police department also protects walking students in school zones with a speed camera program designed to encourage drivers to slow down with fines set at $40. The cameras are rotated among various school zones in the county, which are posted in advance and updated every week at hcpd.org.