Troopers nab drivers ignoring school bus stop arms

TIPPECANOE CO., Ind. (WLFI) - There was a special convoy of marked and unmarked Indiana State Police following a Battle Ground Elementary school bus on its route after school Friday, with troopers looking for drivers who ignore the stop arm on the bus. 

It didn't take long to find multiple drivers breaking the law. 

Troopers ticketed three drivers at a single bus stop on State Road 43, just north of State Road 225, in Tippecanoe County and wrote five $250 tickets overall.

The patrol was prompted by the bus driver who alerted her supervisor to an increasing problem of violators.

"I hope that the public will take a second to rethink priorities when they are on the roadways and remember that when they do see a bus, they need to stop even if they think the bus driver is being overly cautious," said John Pearl, principal of Battle Ground Elementary School.  "It's not the bus that we're worried about, it's the students."

Troopers said they expect to have similar targeted patrols in the future.