RALEIGH (AP) — The North Carolina Highway Patrol says it will aggressively enforce laws this week that require drivers to stop for school buses.
The agency says Operation Stop Arm week will continue from 6 a.m. Monday through Friday. The patrol hopes the operation decreases violations and reduces school bus collisions.
The patrol will hold a news conference Monday morning at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds.
Troopers in marked and unmarked vehicles will patrol school zones and follow buses through the week.
Since 1998, 13 students in North Carolina have been killed by drivers illegally passing a stopped bus or ignoring its stop signal.
That includes a West Rowan High School junior Makinzy Jordan Smith, 17, who was killed last Thursday as he crossed a two-lane road northeast of Salisbury to board his bus.