Police will be on the lookout next week for drivers who fail to stop for school buses that are picking up or dropping off students.

The increased enforcement will take place beginning Monday along the portion of East College Avenue between Route 322 in College Township and University Drive.

The State College Police Department will issue citations for violations after the recent placement of two variable message boards along the road to remind motorists they must stop for school buses with flashing red lights, Officer Robert Keen said.

District Justice Bradley Lunsford, who presides over the area where the enforcement is focused, said citations for failing to stop for school buses are common.

"Not only are the citations frequent, but there is not a school bus stop that occurs on [College Avenue] where someone doesn't pass the school bus when the lights are on," Lunsford said.

Pennsylvania law mandates that traffic traveling in both directions stop for school buses with flashing red lights, unless the road is separated by a physical barrier, such as a highway divider.

The portion of College Avenue where police are focusing has two travel lanes in each direction and a middle turning lane.

Because the road is separated by a middle turning lane, motorists often incorrectly assume they only have to stop if they are traveling behind the bus, Keen said.

Furthering the problem, Keen added, is that once one motorist passes a stopped school bus, other vehicles often follow.

The penalties for failing to stop for a school bus include a $250 fine in addition to court costs, a 60-day license suspension and five points on a motorist's driving records. Keen said police would devote about 50 hours to the enforcement.

A large percentage of the convictions for failing to stop for a school bus result from bus drivers, who observe vehicles passing their school buses, Lunsford said. The law allows a conviction based on the testimony of the bus driver, as long as he or she can provide the license plate number, vehicle description and description of the driver, Lunsford said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has provided the variable message boards to the State College police on a temporary basis, said Marla Fannin, a spokeswoman for the department.

"We are very concerned with this subject because it is very safety related," Fannin said.

Keen said the enforcement is a result of multiple complaints from parents whose children are dropped off or picked up along College Avenue. He said he couldn't recall any accidents involving children being struck by a vehicle that passed a stopped school bus.