Stopping for a school bus on a roadway that is loading or unloading students seems like a simple rule of the road to follow.

But already this year, Herscher School District has reported 43 stop arm violations to the Herscher Police Department, Chief Kurt Quick said.

It matches the number at this time for the 2024-25 school years, Quick said. “It’s ridiculous,” he said.

Herscher Superintendent Rich Decman said the school district’s 39 buses travel approximately 1 million miles each year.

They are taking students to and from district schools in Herscher, Limestone and Bonfield.

Many of those miles include three state highways – Illinois Route 17, Illinois Route 113 and Illinois Route 115. Routes 17 and 113 are two areas where many of the violations occur.

“It is a safety issue,” Decman said.

In particular, Route 17, a highly traveled stretch west of Kankakee on mainly two lanes, appears to be the one where most of the violations occur.

“From County Road 5000 West to the western edge of Kankakee has a third lane for turning off Illinois 17. People use that for passing,” Quick said.

Drivers may believe that it allows them not to have to stop, as is permitted on a four-lane highway. That is not the case.

In Illinois, drivers must stop for a school bus that has stopped and the stop arm is activated on a two-lane road. The only exception is on a four-lane roadway, where you don’t have to stop if traveling on the opposite side, but should proceed with caution.

“I am going to contact [Illinois Department of Transportation] to make them aware of the situation on [Illinois] 17,” Quick said.

According to state statute, passing a stopped school bus with its stop arm extended is illegal and results in a mandatory three-month license suspension, a minimum $300 fine and community service for a first offense.

Repeated offenses carry increased penalties, including a 1-year suspension and $1,000 fine.

Since 2010, the National Association of State Directors of Public Transportation began an annual count of the prevalence of illegal passing of school buses.

In 36 states, including Illinois and the District of Columbia, approximately 31% of the nation’s school bus drivers participated in a one-day survey to report motorists who passed their stopped school buses, according to a NASDPTS release.

In the 2025 survey released in July, 114,239 school bus drivers reported that 67,258 vehicles passed their buses illegally on a single day during the 2024-2025 school year.

“People need to slow down and be cognizant of what is going on,” Decman said. “They may be five minutes late, but they need to pay attention.”

Decman said Illinois Route 113 presents a challenge because it winds going west. There are many subdivisions along Illinois 113, he said.

How violations are caught

The process for issuing citations is interesting.

The school district reviews footage from cameras on each bus, Quick said. They send footage of violators to police, and then they review the footage, he said.

Those deemed to have violated the law are sent on to the Illinois State Police.

Again, there is a review of footage.

Quick, a retired ISP trooper, said this is where it gets labor-intensive.

Troopers have to track down the vehicle and its owners to issue the citation.

Even if the registered owner of the vehicle was not operating the vehicle at the time of the infraction, they are cited.

It proves to be labor-intensive, according to the Illinois State Police.

Troop 5 covers six counties, including Kankakee and Iroquois.

“In most situations, we have 3 or 4 troopers covering 6 counties in,” ISP said in response to questions submitted via email by the Daily Journal.

In the past two to three years, more local police departments have reported more violations to the state police, ISP said.

Quick said he is working with ISP and the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department to set up details.

“During their shifts, they will follow a school bus to deter drivers,” Quick said.

Even then, these officers have their regular patrols to do, he said.

“We have worked with Herscher P.D., but we don’t always have the troopers available to follow the school bus around. The other problem being if a driver is not going to commit the violation if they see the police in the area,” ISP said.