Next week school buses will be hitting the roads in Carter County, and local law enforcement officers are reminding motorists to share the streets and use caution around buses and school zones.

After the summer break, it may take drivers a little bit of time to adjust to school being back in. Officials remind those driving around the times when students are arriving at or leaving the school to allow extra travel time in case they encounter buses. Drivers are also advised to use caution and watch for children at the edge of the road.

Carter County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Mike Carlock, who serves as the supervisor for the department’s School Resource Officer (SRO) program, said deputies frequently encounter issues with drivers speeding through school zones or failing to stop for buses that are picking up or dropping off children.

Oftentimes, Carlock said, when officers stop the driver the motorist said they were unaware of the school zone or laws regarding passing a stopped bus.

“We want to help educate our public,” Carlock said.

Under state law, counties and cities are authorized to establish lowered speed limits on roads adjacent to school grounds to improve safety during student arrival and dismissal. Those zones are marked with posted signs and warning light flashers. As part of state law on speeding in school zones, individuals driving in excess of the speed limit while the warning flashers are in operation or during a period of time around school opening or dismissing can be charged with reckless driving.

When it comes to drivers encountering a school bus picking up or dropping off students, it is important to know when you must stop.

When a school bus stops for students, all vehicles traveling behind the bus must also stop and are not allowed to pass the bus, even if there is another lane of travel going in the same direction.

Most vehicles traveling in the opposite direction to the bus must also stop when the school bus stops, according to state law.

“If it’s not a divided highway, they have to stop,” said CCSO Sgt. David Munsey, one of the department’s SROs.

According to Munsey, on two-lane roads, all vehicles must stop for a stopped school bus.

In the case of multiple lane highways with a continuous center turning lane, such as Highway 91 in the Stoney Creek area, motorists traveling in both directions must stop for the bus.

The only exception is for vehicles traveling on a highway with a physical divider between directions of travel such as a concrete wall or a grass median. For example, on Highway 19E near Hampton High School, if a school bus stops in the northbound lanes to pick up students then all vehicles in the northbound lanes must stop, but those vehicles traveling southbound do not have to stop.

Munsey said during last school year deputies noticed there were problems with drivers not stopping for buses.

“They were having some issues out in the Milligan area and up Stoney Creek,” Munsey said. “We had to sit at a few places in those areas to stop people.”

As the new school year gets underway, Carlock said the department will be ramping up enforcement efforts to make sure the public is aware of the law when it comes to school zones and stopping for buses. In some areas, he said deputies will be following buses to search for drivers not obeying the law while in other areas they will be conducting “saturation patrols” for enforcement.