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New bus laws have gone into effect as of Monday, October 11, for the state of Michigan.
According to FOX 17, two new laws have gone into effect designed to keep children safe while traveling by bus to and from school.
The first law will allow law enforcement to ticket a driver by using video cameras outside the school buses. Both law enforcement and school officials think this will help increase the safety of those riding the bus. Before this law, officers had to witness a driver driving recklessly around a school bus to ticket them.
"Well, there's always the opportunity that the school bus driver didn't catch the license plate. With that camera, once it's activated, hopefully, it will capture the registration of the vehicle, which will then assist the law enforcement in identifying who the driver was," said Kent County Sheriff's Office Undersheriff Chuck DeWitt.
"When the red flashing light comes on, the stop sign comes out. That's when you stop 50 feet away from the bus, and oftentimes in, I would say in this district, it's probably at least once a week we have someone who will run our red lights. Thankfully our drivers are very prepared for it, and they're watching their mirrors constantly and are ready to warn students," said Whitehall District Schools Transportation Director Penny Evert.
The second law will place more signs around a school bus to clarify that a person cannot walk onto a bus without permission.
If a driver is caught breaking either of the two new laws, they can receive a $500 fine.