DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol says too many Iowa drivers are not stopping for school buses picking up and dropping off kids. A collection of videos from the Iowa State patrol shows the problem. Cameras inside school buses record driver after driver running the stop signs that pop out on stopped school buses. Busy school bus drivers often read the license plate out loud, so it’s recorded on camera. That helps the state patrol catch the violators. In 2018, central Iowa troopers recorded just one violation. that grew to 18 violations in 2019. And then citations exploded to 106 in 2020.

The state patrol says all drivers must stop for the school bus stop sign. School districts and parents can even call for a patrol car to follow a bus on a problematic route to better enforce the law. The fines for passing a stopped school bus start at $345. Violators can also lose their driver’s licenses, unless they take driver’s training courses.