Police across Maryland said they'll be out in force starting next week to ticket motorists who drive past school buses as they pick up and let off students.
Authorities said impatient drivers are a problem that has gotten worse.
"They're not focusing. They don't see us, as big as we are," said Baltimore County bus driver Mikki Sparzak, who has been driving school buses for 14 years.
She said she's frustrated by the drivers she sees daily who fail to obey warning signs.
"People will see a school bus with their eyes but don't see it with their minds. They're always in a hurry -- they have to be somewhere, they're late for work," she said.
In the process, bus drivers said motorists end up putting the lives of children in jeopardy.
"We put on our flashing yellow amber lights to warn the cars that we are going to do something -- that we are going to stop, then we stop. Just as we are stopping, we extend our stop sign. That's when everybody should be stopping," Sparzak said.
The Baltimore County Police Department issued a friendly reminder.
"We are saying what the sign says: stop. We are also saying this year that there may be a police officer watching you, so it is in the interest of the children and the interest of the driver to stop," said police spokesman Bill Toohey.
Police said drivers who pass school buses while the lights are flashing will be fined $570 and issued a three-point penalty. Those who stop but then proceed while the lights are flashing will be fined $570 and issued a two-point penalty.
Sparzak said she makes note of a common response once drivers realize they've passed a stopped school bus.
"They throw up their hands or else they'll go with their mouths, 'I'm sorry,' when they've passed us," she said. "I could be transporting the child of the person in that car who is running the stop sign. They have no way of knowing that."
A lot of students will be boarding school buses on Monday in Baltimore County, Baltimore city and Howard County.
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