OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — This week marks National Bus Safety Week, and the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office said they'll be on high alert to help educate drivers while kids are on and off the bus.
It's all part of their "Operation Safe Stop".
In 2022, there were 1,041 crashes involving school buses in Michigan, according to the Michigan State Police Criminal Information Center.
From 81 bus stop crashes, there were 38 serious injuries and one fatality.
Those statistics are why the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies across Michigan are ramping up patrols.
It's all part of a safety initiative looking for drivers who illegally pass school buses.
"I think we have to realize that kids sometimes are not predictable, and we as drivers should be and always in control of our cars," said Ottawa County Sheriff's Office School Resource Officer Program Sergeant Ryan DeVries. We see some pretty blatant violations where people might think ‘Well, I know that those kids aren't going to cross the road, and they're on that side of the bus, so I'm just going to go’, but I think that's when those unpredictable things happen, and we some see some terrible accidents," he said.
Each of the agencies are working with local law enforcement agencies to identify key areas or high problem areas to focus on.
Operation Safe Stop runs through October 20th.
