This is the first day of school in many Iowa districts and motorists are being warned to slow down and stay alert for darting kids and for school buses. Hamilton County Supervisor Rick Young of Jewell says there’s been a recent rash of bad behavior from behind the wheel.
“We have been fielding several reports of inappropriate driving throughout the county,” Young says, “particularly on secondary roads gravel roads and so forth.”
Speeding on gravel roads can be very risky, especially if a school bus is making a stop over the next hill, or as you’re approaching a rural intersection that’s partly obscured by crops. “The public should know, first of all, the corn’s getting up there tall now. Heed those intersections where there’s tall corn and beans,” Young says. “Where you least expect it, we may be having measures out there to detect what’s going on.”
The Iowa legislature unanimously passed Kadyn’s Law in 2012, targeting motorists who pass a stopped school bus with the stop arm extended. On the first offense, a conviction could bring a fine of up to $675, up to 30 days in jail, and a 30-day suspension of the driver’s license.
“Word to the public, if you think you’re out in of the middle of nowhere on a gravel road, that doesn’t mean nobody’s ever watching you,” Young says, “so drive safe.” In Sioux City alone, police report issuing 32 citations last school year to motorists who passed a parked school bus with its stop sign extended.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)