Careless driving near school buses rising in Lincoln Co.

LINCOLN COUNTY, S.D. (KELO) — The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is seeing an uptick in complaints of drivers not obeying stop signs on school buses.

Since the start of the school year, Sgt. Chris Kuntz with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department says school buses have had to deal with an increase in reckless drivers.

“Complaints this year have been on mainly rural roads, county roads and state highways,” Kuntz said.

One of the problems that bus drivers are noticing is that when they put out their stop signs and red lights, there are drivers right in front of them that blow right through it.

“They don’t know the rules of the road. They’re not thinking, they’re on their phones, they’re thinking about something else, and it’s happened too frequently,” Harrisburg School District transportation manager Roger Timmerman said.

There are some simple things you can do to keep everyone safe.

“Just be alert because there could be a child running to the bus from a block away, so not only just the area of the bus, which is important, but kids are kids. They’re going to be late, and they’re going to be running and not paying attention. ” Timmerman said.

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“Just drive with caution. That’s all we’re asking folks to do. Obey the yellow lights. If the yellow lights come on, slow down to 15 miles an hour. You can proceed with caution. Once the red lights are there, stop. It’s mainly, for the safety of children getting on and off the bus,” Kuntz said.

Simply being cautions can help prevent tragedy.

“Just prevention. Make sure nobody gets hurt, and don’t rush it. Don’t don’t rush to get to work, just take your time, and it’s somebody’s kid out there, and they want them to get to school safe,” Timmerman said.

Driving through a school bus stop sign is a class two misdemeanor. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office plans to do more directed patrols in the areas where they have received the most complaints.