New Transportation and Driving Laws Become Effective in Midland

by Mubarak Malimar CEO at Angelo's Towing

From now onwards, motorists passing halted school buses for the purpose of unloading or loading kids could be faced with increased punishment and fines. This is because a new bill was signed recently into law for increasing the citation minimum penalties of the offense from 200 USD to 500 USD. The maximum penalties have been increased from 1,000 USD to 1,250 USD.

According to Shawn Baxter, a DPS Trooper, whenever a school bus arrives at a stop, one can witness the flashing of its yellow warning lights. As soon as the lights change to red and you can see the stop sign extending out from the bus, no driver coming from any direction whatsoever can pass the vehicle unless the motorist is told to do so by the bus driver. But, on roadways that have divided sections, like many highways and interstates, motorists who are on the other side of a barrier or median may continue to drive, while cars following the bus must come to a stop.

Baxter added that it is the responsibility of a driver to be aware of the law and follow it for preventing injuries and crashes. Everyone should do what they can for protecting our valuable cargo. This is perhaps true for any place; for instance, since riverside.angelostowing.com is very popular, any driver towing a vehicle should be well acquainted with the transportation laws of Riverside.

Coming back to the topic, Elena Viramontes, trooper of DPS safety education services, maintained that many drivers are not able to halt for school buses for getting distracted by the use of cellphones and lack of attention. And while violators to enforcement of law have been reported by bus drivers, it is imperative for officers to witness the occurrence of the violation for issuing a citation.

Baxter stated the related consequences and penalties can be quite serious. Also, in conjunction with the increased penalties, defensive driving lessons could not be undertaken by violators for ensuring the dismissal of the ticket. A motorist who is booked for the same charge within 5 years of the 1^st ticket have to pay somewhere between 1,000 USD to 2,000 USD. Their driver’s license could also be revoked for up to 6 months.

If someone is injured during the violation by a motorist, the class C offence charge graduates to a class A one. For drivers already sentenced to a class A offence charge will face a state jail felony, that includes a punishment of up to 2 years in jail.

When regular violations of the law are experienced by school bus drivers, the school district has the right to demand selective enforcement, where a bus is shadowed by troopers during its journey for the purpose of catching violators.

While most of the roads are patrolled by police and DPS, Midland ISD is particularly aimed at increasing safety and security near the schools.

David Colburn, MISD Police Chief, commented that this year will see the presence of two officers at every secondary campus, thereby ensuring enhanced traffic enforcement. Moreover, when traffic penalties increase, it catches the attention of motorists and they become more aware of their driving habits.

If such laws are also implemented in other parts of America, it can lessen the percentage of road accidents significantly, case in point being Riverside towing. Since towing itself is a difficult task, enforcement of such laws can be extremely helpful in maintaining safety.