LEWISTON – Message from police to drivers: Yes, you can go to jail for driving around a stopped school bus. You will be handcuffed and put in the back of a cruiser. You will be fingerprinted and police will take your mug shot. License suspension is automatic upon conviction.

Police do not want people to believe that passing a school bus with flashing red lights will result in a mere ticket. It is one of a few traffic offenses that can get a driver physically arrested.

“School buses transport Maine’s most precious commodity: our youth,” police Sgt. James Rioux stated in a news release.

Each year, parents and school officials complain about drivers that drive around buses as they stop to pick up or drop off children. As a new year begins, kids are excited and not always as attentive as they should be. Police say it falls to drivers to pay attention and obey traffic laws.

Police advise drivers to allow extra minutes for their commutes to compensate for time spent stopped behind school buses.