Avon Lake City Council unanimously approves $500 minimum fine for illegally passing school bus

AVON LAKE — Members of Avon Lake City Council unanimously approved legislation Monday that will establish a $500 minimum fine for illegally passing a stopped school bus. The city has taken numerous steps in recent years to make drivers think twice when they see a bus, including raising the maximum fine for illegally passing a stopped school bus from $500 to $750 and adding the possibility of up to 30 days behind bars at the judge's discretion. However, one possible oversight was that no minimum fine was ever established until now, said Councilman David Kos, 4th Ward. "Mandatory minimums are rare, but they are used," he said, citing the mandatory minimum fine for operating a vehicle while under the influence as an example. Ohio law requires motorists to stop at least 10 feet away from school buses with their red flashing lights on and stop sign extended on roads with fewer than four lanes. On highways with four or more lanes, only drivers going the same direction as the bus must stop. Kos encouraged lawmakers at the state level to consider increasing the penalties for illegally passing a stopped bus across Ohio, so it is not up to municipalities to pass their own legislation like what Avon Lake has done. He said there have already been two instances this school year in Avon Lake when a motorist was cited for passing a stopped bus. In one case on Sept. 13, he said police were notified by a bus driver that a vehicle passed a bus with its red lights and stop sign activated and nearly struck two first graders. "This is a very serious issue and the city of Avon Lake is taking it very seriously," Kos said. "I know fines only can go so far, but we hope that by raising the fines, raising the maximum, raising the minimum, hitting people in the wallet and also having the cameras on the buses, we are giving the police the tools that they need to get the word out to the public and enforce this." Councilwoman Jennifer Fenderbosch, 2nd Ward, said there is a video of the bus driver pulling the door in order to keep the children from potentially being hit by a car, and she hopes it can be shared with the state. Council President Martin O'Donnell, at-large, said he thinks the city's efforts to increase bus safety are a "tremendous thing" that have sparked interest in other cities and at the statewide level. "What it all comes down to is the safety of the children, and the education of people that in school zones, you have to be careful," O'Donnell said. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.