‘Please do better’: Driver fined $490 for passing school bus in front of OPP officer

OPP Const. Joel Eppinghaus was conducting a school bus patrol Tuesday when officers caught a vehicle illegally passing a stopped bus with lights activated.

A 43-year-old man from Greater Sudbury, Ont., has been fined nearly $500 after passing a stopped school bus while Ontario Provincial Police officers watched from across the highway.

The incident occurred at about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday on Highway 11/17 between Thunder Bay and Kakabeka Falls while OPP officers were on patrol specifically to ensure motorists were following the law and stopping for school buses.

“This person passed a fully lit-up school bus, with its stop sign out as kids are trying to get on... all while sat stationary across the highway in a fully marked police car,” the OPP said in a social media post.

Const. Joel Eppinghaus of the Thunder Bay OPP was part of the patrol and recorded a video at the scene.

“Believe it or not, we were sitting across the highway waiting for a bus to stop. (The bus) came to a full stop, lights on, stop sign out and a vehicle passed right by,” he said in the video posted to social media.

It is illegal to fail to stop for a stopped school bus that has its red lights flashing.

“This driver has been charged $490.00 for totally disregarding the safety of the children and school bus,” police said.

If you don’t stop, you can be fined $400-$2,000 and receive six demerit points for a first offence. If you are convicted a second time within five years, the penalty is a fine of $1,000 to $4,000 and six demerit points. You could also go to jail for up to six months.

In his video, Eppinghaus used the opportunity to remind the public of the importance of safe driving, especially with significant weather in the forecast.

“Please do better,” he added in the post.

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