The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Operation Safe Stop has one goal: to reduce the chance of a motor vehicle accident involving school buses by reminding drivers how important it is to refrain from passing a stopped school bus.

The Tribune-Democrat newspaper recently covered PennDOT's 15th annual Operation Safe Stop, an even held jointly with local and state police departments and school districts. During the event, bus drivers are asked to fill out violation tracking forms to record any motor vehicles that illegal pass buses that are stopped to pick up or let off students.

The Tribune-Democrat story said that Pennsylvania employs 43,446 school bus drivers who transport more than 1.5 million students every day.

When cars zip around stopped buses — and these buses usually flash their lights and roll out the "STOP" signs attached to their sides — they endanger the lives of children getting onto and off of the vehicles. It is often dark when buses stop to pick up or drop off children. Harried drivers might not see children until it is too late.

During Operation Safe Stop, several Pennsylvania police departments staffed buses with uniformed officers. These officers were on hand to issue warnings or citations to those drivers who did illegally passed stopped school buses. Illegally passing buses is no inexpensive matter. Those drivers who fail to obey the school-bus stopping law in Pennsylvania can face a fine of $250, a hit of five points on their driving records and a license suspension of 60 days.

Source: The Tribune-Democrat, "'No. 1 priority': School bus program aimed at protecting kids," Arlene Johns, Oct. 19, 2011