The parents of three children killed at their school bus stop are supporting a push to tighten Indiana school bus laws.
Six-year-old twins Mason and Xzavier Ingle and their nine-year-old sister Alivia were run over and killed as they crossed State Road 25 near Rochester to get to their bus. Their parents joined legislators at the statehouse to support a push in both the House and Senate to both toughen enforcement and make bus stops safer.
Logansport Senator Randy Head’s bill would require schools to redo their bus routes so kids don’t have to cross a state highway to get to the bus stop. Rolling Prairie Representative Jim Pressel’s (R) bill would extend that to crossing any road. And instead of a ticket, you’d be charged with a misdemeanor if you run a school bus stop sign, a charge carrying up to a year in jail.
The driver in the Rochester accident is already charged with reckless homicide. Michael Schwab, the Ingles’ grandfather, says Indiana issued three-thousand tickets last year for running stop arms. He says that’s a dice roll with children’s safety every time, and says it’s a miracle there haven’t been more deaths and injuries.
Head (R) says the increased penalties should make drivers more aware of the importance of obeying the stop signs and the dangers of ignoring them. His bill would also make you pass a test on school bus safety laws every time you renew your driver’s license. And Head says he expects to add a provision from Pressel’s bill to equip stop arms with cameras which automatically snap a picture of your license plate if you blow through the stop sign.
Schwab says 16 states already use stop-arm cameras, but Indiana legislators have consistently rejected proposals to mount cameras on red lights to issue tickets. Head says he believes the more limited use of cameras will draw less opposition.
