CABOT, Ark. — The Cabot School District is offering a stern reminder for drivers ahead of next week's first day of school – pay attention or pay the fine.
The number of drivers they've seen speed past their buses during stops has stayed consistent over the past few years, despite the technology they use to catch violators.
Cameras have been installed on buses for the past few years, catching images of those who fail to stop, but violations are still happening.
"What we have here on the table are the stop-arm violation reports that we pull," said Bob Doty, director of transportation for the Cabot School District. "This person did this because they were probably distracted."
And this isn't a small problem.
Doty said they had over 100 instances of people failing to yield during the 2022-23 school year.
"We're probably on track to do the same thing," Doty said.
Fines are steep and start at $500.
"I get calls where people say, 'Hey, I've got something in the mail that I passed a stop arm on a school bus, and I didn't do that.'" Doty said. "We'll visit with you about it and show you that it was your license plate, and it was your car, and it was you driving."
There are specific areas that Doty said they've noticed issues, more specifically around Highway 38 and Highway 89.
"When people in rural areas see a bus pull over on the right side, they think the other side of the road is good for them," Doty said. "They can go right on by... that's not correct. It's a violation of state law."
So remember, there will be a lot more people on the roads next week and many more buses. Unless you want to pay a few hundred dollars, Doty said to pay attention and stop.
"There's going to be a hundred big yellow buses out on the road," Doty said. "Those buses are full of students eager to go to school and eager to come home from school safely."