To ensure students’ safety when traveling to and from school, police officers across Michigan will be ramping up patrols next week looking for drivers illegally passing school buses.

“Operation Safe Stop” is a statewide enforcement campaign that will be conducted Monday through Friday of next week in conjunction with National School Bus Safety Week.

Participating police agencies will work with their local school districts during this week to provide education and enforcement for their communities. OSS enforcement efforts will focus on drivers who ignore the flashing red lights and extended stop-arm of a school bus that is picking up or dropping off students.

According to the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center, in 2024 in Michigan, 54 crashes occurred at school bus stops, where the bus lights and stop-arms were activated. Those 54 crashes resulted in 26 injuries and one fatality.

“Drivers have an obligation to know and obey the laws regarding when to stop for a school bus,” Alicia Sledge, director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, said in a news release. “Ensuring our students are safe during loading and unloading must be a priority for everyone.”

A one-day survey, conducted by 3,153 Michigan school bus drivers this past May, reported 2,207 times that a motorist passed a school bus illegally. A similar one-day survey, conducted in May 2024 with 2,013 school bus drivers participating, reported 1,362 incidents of passing school buses illegally.

“Every time a driver ignores the flashing lights or stop-arm of a school bus, they are putting a student’s life in danger,” Kellie Dean, CEO of Dean Transportation, said in the release. “‘Operation Safe Stop’ will help keep students safe and will educate drivers on how to safely share the road with buses.”

Drivers should prepare to stop when they see the overhead flashing yellow lights of a school bus and stop at least 20 feet away from a bus when the overhead lights are flashing red. Drivers who pass stopped school buses may be charged with civil infractions carrying a fine up to $500. Drivers who pass a stopped school bus and cause an injury face a misdemeanor charge and a fine up to $1,000 and/or up to one year in jail. Drivers who pass a stopped school bus and cause a death are subject to a felony with a fine up to $7,500 and/or up to 15 years in jail.

Operation Safe Stop is a collaborative effort between Dean Transportation, the OHSP, and the Michigan Association of Pupil Transportation. For more information about OSS and school bus safety, go to www.Michigan.gov/SchoolBusSafety.