Passing A Stopped School Bus Could Be A Costly, Deadly Mistake

(Ft. Dodge, IA) — After several fender-benders involving Iowa school buses this week, including some with injuries, authorities are reminding drivers about the importance of using caution whenever they spot the slow-moving, yellow vehicles. Motorists may get impatient and try to zip around the bus before it comes to a halt, but Trooper Paul Gardner, a public resource officer with the Iowa State Patrol based in Fort Dodge, says that could be both a life-threatening — and expensive — mistake. The penalty for passing a stopped school bus is a minimum fine of 345 dollars and a suspended driver’s license. State lawmakers adopted Kadyn’s Law in 2012 after the death of seven-year-old Kadyn Halverson of Kensett, who was fatally hit by a pickup in 2011 while trying to cross the road to board a school bus. The law raised criminal penalties for passing a stopped school bus.