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New NC House bill aims to increase safety

House Bill 527 seeks to increase fines for drivers who do not stop for school buses and add more trooper to Mecklenburg County.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This week, a new House bill was filed that aims to add more State Troopers in Mecklenburg County and increase fines for drivers who do not stop for parked school buses.

FINE INCREASES 

It's a frightening moment we've seen in the Charlotte area recently. WCNC Charlotte covered this, after a video was released showing a car speeding around a parked school bus dropping children off, almost hitting them. House Bill 527 was introduced to add larger penalties. 

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Janine White is the owner of Remedy Driving School and has been an instructor for 15 years. She said this is a topic she highlights. 

"When you see those lights come on, that is not the time to hit the gas," White said. "It’s better to be safe than sorry. A lot of them know it’s a law but think it’s negotiable, they if I can beat it, I don’t see anybody, so I can get around it.” 

According to the bill, it's still a class one misdemeanor, but now if caught, the driver will receive a minimum $1,000 fine. That is up from the previous $500 fine. If the driver hits someone, it is up another $1,000. If the driver strikes and kills someone, the minimum fine is up to $3,000. 

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"Hopefully this will get their attention and say hey I have to obey the rules, I have got to obey the law," White said.

Brad Smith, an Attorney in Charlotte focusing on traffic enforcement, weighed in on the fine going up. He said there's also money spent after-the-fact that people sometimes do not think about. 

“That’s a very substantial change regarding the fine," Smith said. The sticker shock is the $500 fine and the cost of court is, you can’t even keep up with it – we are already talking about something getting up to $1,000 dollars anyway.” 

MORE STATE TROOPERS

Another topic within the bill concerns road safety. State Representative Carolyn Logan, who represents Mecklenburg County, has pushed to add 12 full-time State Trooper positions in Mecklenburg County. 

But NCDPS said that at the same time, the State is already working to fill a slew of positions that are already vacant. 

“As an agency, we are right at 266 vacancies and that’s at trooper positions," NC Trooper Chris Knox said. “Not as many people are going into the law enforcement profession. When we have less law enforcement officers on the road, it takes longer for them to get there and there are potential for delays.” 

Austin Walker: Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.



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