Push to keep Indiana students safer at their bus stops this school year

ROCHESTER, Ind. --- This school year, expect more awareness for school bus stop safety laws and more officers catching drivers in the act.

There will be increased patrols at bus stops around the state and locally, there’s a push to keep the memory alive of the three siblings that were killed while walking to their Tippecanoe Valley school bus last fall.

Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office announced Monday that nearly $400,000 in grants will assist 39 law enforcement agencies in Indiana pay over-time bills for officers to crack down on drivers ignoring school bus safety laws.

Three local agencies will receive a portion of the funding. The Mishawaka Police Department will receive $25,000, the Marshall County Sheriff’s department will receive $3,300 and the Fulton County Sheriff’s department will receive $2,500.

The state grant comes after the family of Mason, Alivia, and Xzavier worked to pass stronger bus stop safety laws following the October 2018 tragedy. The MAX Strong law takes effect this school year and with police departments receiving extra funding to enforce them, the family is hoping all drivers will be more careful.

Brittany Ingle, the mother of Mason, Alivia and Xzavier, has posted billboards around major highways in Rochester ahead of the start of the school year reminding drivers of what’s at stake when they get behind the wheel.

“I want these drivers to see that it’s not worth it, it’s not worth taking away a child’s life you know my kids were 6 and 9,” Ingle said. “They were taken away so senselessly and so fast in the blink of an eye you know you’re getting them ready for school and you tell them bye and you have Halloween plans and all of a sudden they’re gone.”

The billboards remind drivers of the stronger bus stop safety laws that will help hold drivers more accountable and keep children safer not just in Fulton County, but across the state.

“This is a legacy and a memory for my children, it’s not going to bring them back, but if I can save other lives and save other families from going what I’m going through its well worth it.”

Ingle hopes to put more billboards across Michiana in the future. To donate to their foundation, visit http://www.maxstrongfoundation.org/.