A legislative panel is backing tougher penalties for drivers who pass stopped school buses after members heard from relatives of three children fatally struck while crossing a northern Indiana highway.
An Indiana Senate committee voted unanimously Wednesday to endorse a bill that would suspend the driver’s license for 90 days the first time someone recklessly passes a stopped school bus. It would allow $1,000 fines against repeat offenders recorded by school bus cameras.
Michael Stahl told the committee he believed tougher penalties might deter some drivers from passing buses. Stahl’s 9-year-old daughter and her twin 6-year-old half brothers were killed in the October 30 pre-dawn collision on Indiana 25 near Rochester. The driver who hit the children told authorities she didn’t realize she was approaching a stopped school bus.
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