NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee lawmaker is working on a bill that would increase the penalties for passing a school bus illegally, creating a tiered system for multiple offenses, and making it a felony if someone is struck by the car and injured.
“A lot of people don’t know you have to stop in all directions when a school bus stops,” Representative Jason Potts, a democrat from Nashville, said. “It really breaks my heart seeing people just fly by not paying attention, and you got an 8 or 9-year-old kid over here just trying to get off the bus or go across the street to their home.”
Potts has two kids of his own and saw people passing school buses illegally on his drive into work constantly, so he decided to try and make a change after looking at laws in other states.
What he came up with was a tiered system that would increase the penalty every time someone violated the rule and passed a school bus illegally.
For the first violation, the driver would face a $500 fine and be required to complete 8 hours of community service.
For a second violation, the fine would increase to $750, the driver would be required to complete 16 hours of community service, and their license would be revoked for a 30-day period.
A third violation would increase the fine to $1,000, community service time would increase to 32 hours, and the person’s license would be revoked for a 120-day period.
If the person injured someone while passing the bus, it would be considered a felony under the proposed law.
Potts said more than anything, he’s trying to raise awareness about school bus safety, and he said he believes new laws could do that.
“I think that’s the main part of my legislation is to open people’s eyes and say you know what, there’s consequences for not obeying this law and we need to make sure we obey it and protect our kids.”
Currently, passing a school bus illegally can result in a $250 - $1,000 fine.
Potts said the bill is in its early stages, but he’s hoping his fellow lawmakers will help the bill progress.
