Drivers To Lose Licenses For Illegally Passing School Buses Under Strict New Law

Officials hope to eliminate senseless tragedies, like the recent deaths of three young siblings in Indiana.

December 04, 2018
School bus accident [WNDU/screenshot]

School bus accident [WNDU/screenshot]

School bus accident [WNDU/screenshot]

By: Aaron Rasmussen

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, CANADA — A tough new law set to go into effect in Prince Edward Island means drivers who put school kids at risk by illegally passing buses will lose their license for three months, receive 12 demerit points, and pay a fine of $5,000 Canadian dollars.

In order to get back a suspended license in the eastern Canadian province, offenders must attend a defensive driving course, meet with highway safety officials, and pay a fee. They are then placed on probation and will have their license suspended again if they receive any additional demerits over the course of the following year.

The law goes into effect on December 8, making P.E.I.’s punishment the harshest in Canada.

"We will be continuing to work with our police and education partners to implement strong solutions,” said Transportation Minister Paula Biggar.

As CrimeFeed previously reported, incidents involving children getting on and off stopped buses have led to tragic fatalities in the United States.

In October, 24-year-old Alyssa Shepherd, a children's director at a gospel church, failed to yield for a bus in Indiana and slammed her pickup truck into four young school kids. She killed 6-year-old twin brothers and their 9-year-old sister and seriously hurt an 11-year-old boy.

According to police, the bus had its lights flashing and stop sign extended.

Shepherd has pleaded not guilty to three counts of reckless homicide and one misdemeanor count of disregarding a stop sign and causing injury.

“We all need to pay a little more attention, because it's all our responsibility to make sure our children get to and from school safely,” Indiana State Police Sergeant Tony Slocum said after the deadly accident. "I just can't imagine the pain that family is going through.”

Read more: CBC

Next Up

Truck Driver Convicted Of Manslaughter After Fiery Crash Has Sentence Reduced By 100 Years

“I think all the time about the victims,” Rogel Aguilera-Mederos said of the four people he killed in Colorado in 2019.

‘Diary Of A Wimpy Kid’ Actor Shot His Mother Then Planned To Kill Prime Minister Trudeau

Ryan Grantham, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the March 2020 shooting death of his mother.

Suspect In Canada Mass Stabbing Rampage Dies In Custody

32-year-old Myles Sanderson died after experiencing “medical distress” after allegedly going on a stabbing spree that killed 10 people and injured another 18.

‘There’s No Explanation For It’: Man Found Murdered In Tennessee Surrounded By Gold Coins & Cash

“Every aspect of this case is mysterious,” a law enforcement official who worked the 1996 murder case says.

Man Confesses To Killing His Uber Driver, Posting A Video Of The Attack On Facebook

A 29-year-old man allegedly told police he had wanted to kill someone on Dec. 8 and that he didn’t pick his victim, “Uber picked her.”

Canadian Man Jailed After Years-Long Tormenting Of Family Escalated To A Triple Murder

Dustin Duthie was hard to get along with, but nobody expected him to snap the way he did.

Infamous Canadian Couple Known As 'The Ken & Barbie Killers' Videotaped Their Crimes

Canadians Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka were arrested for slaying schoolgirls in the early ‘90s, including her teenage sister.

West Virginia Man Identified As Killer In One Of Canada's Most Notorious Cold Cases

Sharron Prior was murdered in March 1975 in the Montreal neighborhood where she lived. The case went cold for decades until May 2023, when police announced they have identified the teenager’s killer.

A Canadian Woman Who Drowned Her High School Classmate Was Granted Day Parole — Again

14-year-old Reena Virk was beaten and murdered by a mob of teens in British Columbia, Canada, in 1997.