Dismissing, pleading down school bus violations double since Kadyn's Law

School bus drivers say the judicial system is putting children at risk by letting motorists who pass school buses illegally off the hook.

Rick Niemier, who drives children in the Marion and Linn-Mar school districts, said rather than enforcing a 2012 law designed to stiffen penalties, too often Linn County prosecutors are pleading charges down or dismissing them all together.

'This kind of defeats the purpose of the law,' Niemier said. 'I know some of the district attorneys feel it is too harsh of a law and they don't like to prosecute it. Some don't feel it is a serious violation, and it frustrates the hell out of me.

'I do 9,000 stops a year, and it only takes one time to get someone killed.'

The rate of stop-arm violations being pleaded down or dismissed has more than doubled in Iowa since the adoption of Kadyn's Law, and Linn County is doing so at one of the highest rates in the state, a check of the data from the Iowa judicial branch shows.