(ABC 6 News) — Two weeks after the school year started in Albert Lea, police said there have been six bus stop arm violations.

Police and school bus drivers are urging the community to pay attention to stopping school buses while on the roads.

Chris Avery is a bus driver for Albert Lea Bus Company, and she said the main cause of the violations is distracted drivers, and trying to watch for them makes it more difficult to get kids to and from school safely.

“If you’re in a hurry, and you’re distracted, we can’t do our job because we’re watching for what you’re doing, because we don’t know if you’re going to come around the side of the bus or not,” Avery said.

Violations become even more dangerous when kids are outside of the bus, because they are not always paying attention to traffic or following directions from their bus drivers, according to Avery.

After the first day and a half of the new school year, ALPD reported three stop arm violations.

“We want to make sure that the students are safe going to and from school, along with students in the crosswalks getting on and off the bus,” Adam Conn, school resource officer at Albert Lea High School, said.

In addition to the cameras in and around each bus, the stop arms are also equipped with cameras, to help capture any violations.

Videos of potential violations are then sent to the police, who can track down the drivers based on their license plate number and drivers license photo.

In Minnesota, it is state law to stop for school buses with flashing red lights activated and stop arm open, and it’s at minimum a $500 fine for violators.

That fine increases when kids are outside of the bus.

Avery said when drivers see a bus with flashing yellow lights, they should prepare to come to a stop.

Once those lights turn red and the stop arm is extended, drivers are required to stop at least 20 feet from a school bus, and remained stopped until the lights turn off and the stop arm is closed.

If you don’t know if you should stop, Avery said it is best to exercise caution and stop anyways.