{"id":410240,"date":"2026-08-18T23:10:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T23:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/410240\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T23:10:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T23:10:26","slug":"austin-drivers-know-the-rules-around-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/410240\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin drivers: Know the rules around schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/cbsaustin.com\/news\/local\/austin-isd-starts-school-after-11-campus-closures-families-weigh-impact-on-students\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Class is now in session in Austin ISD<\/a>, and that means drivers are once again sharing the road with buses, crossing guards, and children heading to and from school.<\/p>\n<p>Every year, Austin ISD says thousands of drivers are caught failing to stop for school buses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you watch this video, it will literally make your heart jump,\u201d said Austin ISD Police Chief Wayne Sneed.<\/p>\n<p>The video, taken last October, shows a school bus as it stops and the doors open. The driver of the truck drives around a car, and then the bus comes within inches of a 12-year-old student about to step off.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cannot stress the severity of this incident enough,\u201d said Chief Sneed.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cbsaustin.com\/news\/local\/austin-isd-prepares-103-bus-hubs-but-staffing-at-every-location-isnt-guaranteed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RELATED| Austin ISD prepares 103 bus hubs, but staffing at every location isn\u2019t guaranteed<\/a><\/p>\n<p><p>KEYE<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Austin ISD started using stop-arm cameras in 2016. Each year the cameras catch thousands of drivers who do not stop when students are getting on and off buses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of our school buses are equipped with stop-arm cameras. You pass those buses, first of all, you are jeopardizing possibly the life of a student. Plus, you will be issued a citation,\u201d said Kris Hafezizadeh, Austin ISD Executive Director of Transportation.<\/p>\n<p>To avoid getting a $300 fine, stop your car when you see the red lights and stop arm. If you are coming from the other direction, you still must stop unless a physical median or barrier is separating you from the bus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes they drive real fast,\u201d said former school crossing guard Robert Cabrera.<\/p>\n<p>Cabrera worked as a school crossing guard for several years in Austin ISD.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a time when a car hit a couple of kids when I was there,&#8221; said Cabrera. <\/p>\n<p>He said he asked the driver what he was doing, and the driver said he was in a hurry to get to work. <\/p>\n<p>Cabrera is now retired, but from his front porch he still sees dangerous situations at the elementary school across the street.<\/p>\n<p>His advice: if a crossing guard steps into the crosswalk, stop and give them and the students the entire crossing. Then do not start moving again until the guard signals that it is safe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo matter how many safety measures we put in place, the ultimate responsibility belongs to the person behind the steering wheel,\u201d said Austin Mayor Kirk Watson.<\/p>\n<p>The $300 fines are effective. Austin ISD says 90% of first-time offenders do not illegally pass a school bus again after getting a ticket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Class is now in session in Austin ISD, and that means drivers are once again&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-410240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}