Safety of children should be priority

To the editor:

Everyone living in Linn County should be upset by the argument that it would be an inconvenience for someone to lose their license for 30 days rather than obey the law and keep our children safe when people choose to run a stop arm. We elected our county attorney and judges to enforce the laws of the state. We need them to enforce Iowa code 321.372A, passed by the Iowa House and Senate without a no vote cast and then signed into law by the governor. Section 321.372 subsection 3 states, the school bus driver must fill out a form that includes time, location, plate number and description of the vehicle. The law states that if the owner will not identify the driver, the owner will receive the citation. It is the job of law enforcement, the county attorney and the judges of Linn County to prosecute the people that choose to violate the law, rather than wait for the children to load or unload.

I load 60 young students at one stop. I have had several close calls. I have had people run the stop arm eating, texting, talking on the phone and purposely speeding up to go through. The drivers know the law and the penalties when they run the stop arm. Everyone needs to get involved and call anyone who can help. The law doesn't require video to prosecute. Enough is enough, let's put safety of the children first rather than the inconvenience of law breakers.

Steve Tomash

Fairfax