OCEAN CITY, Md. — According to the Town of Ocean City, the Ocean City Police Department has increased patrols around school buses as part of a traffic safety initiative funded by a federal grant.
Officials state that the department received $29,931.22 from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's High Visibility Enforcement program. The grant is part of the Illegal Passing of Stopped School Buses High Visibility Enforcement Pilot Project. Ocean City says the funding is intended to reduce violations of Maryland’s school bus stop laws.
Under Maryland law, Ocean City is reminding that drivers must stop when a school bus has flashing red lights and its stop arm extended. On roads without a physical median, traffic in both directions must stop. On divided highways, such as Coastal Highway, only vehicles traveling behind the bus are required to stop.
Between January and May 26, 2025, Ocean City police conducted a total of 246 traffic stops under the initiative. Of those, the town says 100 were for school bus violations. Officials say a total of 240 citations were issued:
- 24 for school bus-related offenses
- 52 for failure to obey a traffic control device
- 7 for failure to stop at a stop sign
- 158 for other traffic violations
The town reported officers worked a total of 331 overtime hours during the enforcement period.
Ocean City stated that enforcement will continue through the remainder of the school year at Worcester County Public Schools, which ends June 17, as well as during the summer academy bus schedule, which runs from June 30 to July 31.