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Troopers putting added emphasis on school bus safety
State trooper on bus.jpg
State trooper Andrew Coppinger stands aboard a school bus filled with Bobby Ray students on Friday. The Highway Patrol has launched a campaign to alert motorists of the dangers of passing a stopped school bus with its lights activated.

The number of motorists failing to stop for school buses with their stop signs activated has generated concern from the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

“We’re having issues with this,” said Highway Patrol Sgt. Kevin Ballew. “The safety of our children is our utmost concern. We want to raise awareness and educate folks that they need to pay attention to the road and watch for school buses dropping off children. We are going to be issuing citations for this.”

Sgt. Ballew said state troopers typically position themselves in school zones to watch for any moving violations which may occur, but they took a more aggressive approach on Friday. Troopers followed school buses from six schools on their afternoon routes to monitor the behavior of motorists from close range.

State trooper Andrew Coppinger boarded a bus filled with Bobby Ray students, who were all smiles upon seeing the law enforcement officer. He then followed the bus as it made its way around the city.

“I’ll be writing citations and looking for distracted drivers, anyone who may be texting and driving,” said Coppinger.

Sgt. Ballew said troopers decided to follow school buses for an afternoon out of a sense of urgency.

“Troopers are consistently issuing citations to motorists for passing stopped school buses while loading and unloading,” said Ballew. “This is especially a problem on Highway 55.”