During the coming months, Temple residents can expect to see more than the usual number of Temple police cars patrolling in the early-morning hours on school days.

“In the last couple of weeks, we have received an influx in the number of complaints from school bus drivers about people who are illegally passing buses,” Temple Police Chief Edward Whitt said.

To address the problem, Whitt said he plans to schedule some of his officers to work overtime, starting their work days at 6 a.m. on random dates.

Whitt said he will also participate in the early-morning patrols himself until the problem is under control.

“Just because someone can’t manage their time it doesn’t mean they have a right to break the law,” Whitt said. “It is not worth risking a child’s life to try to avoid being two or three minutes late to work.”

Temple police officers have been advised to write citations rather than warnings for the violations.

Carroll County Schools System Director of Public Safety and Security Brian Doss said he receives close to 10 complaints a month from bus drivers concerned about impatient motorists trying to pass their buses.

“That number is pretty consistent but the issue always needs to be addressed because of the level of danger involved,” Doss said.

During his 20 years as a police officer, Whitt said he only remembers one incident involving a motorist illegally passing a school bus that resulted in a fatality.

“It was when I was working in Alabama in 1994,” he said. “The driver who did the passing was actually the one who died, but you read about incidents all the time where people disregard the law and it ends in injury.”

Whitt said he will continue the beefed-up early-hour patrolling until the problem stops.

“We are trying to deter people from doing this before something serious happens in Temple,” Whitt said. “I want to get the word out to the public so that if people are doing this, they will stop.”