Photo Courtesy of John Wesley Brett
Stop-arm passing safety has quickly become a major issue facing school transportation departments as thousands of drivers recklessly pass stopped school buses loading and unloading students. However, some school districts are instituting new programs to crack down on the vehicles putting students’ lives at risk.
Arlington Public Schools in Virginia recently introduced a new school bus stop-arm safety camera program through a partnership with American Traffic Solutions’ CrossingGuard cameras, which capture images of vehicles that fail to stop for loading and unloading buses.
According to American Traffic Solutions, the new program makes Arlington County one of the only districts in Virginia to allow the use of exterior school bus cameras to catch dangerous drivers.
“Our main goal is to keep our students safe,” said Dave McCrae, director of transportation for Arlington Public Schools. “These cameras are the safety solution we need to protect our students and to reduce the number of these types of violations.”
For the first two months of the program (July 8-Sept. 7), the owners of vehicles caught passing stopped buses will receive a warning notice. This time period is set during summer school, with tickets live notices being issues starting Sept. 8 when school starts for the year.
“The warning period will give our residents an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the public safety goals of the program before the actual citations begin,” said Kevin Reardon, the district’s security coordinator. “The goal of this public safety program is to stop drivers from disobeying the stop arm, ensuring our students get to and from school safely.”
According to the latest figures by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), 1,828 vehicles passed stopped school buses in Virginia over the course of just one day in 2014. When you add tally this up over an 180-day school year, the count could be as high as 330,000 illegal passing incidents putting children’s lives at risk in just one state.
The CrossingGuard cameras use sensors on the side of the school bus to automatically detect when a vehicle illegally passes the stop arm in either direction and captures video, including the vehicle’s license plate number. This footage is then sent to Arlington County Police Department for review to decide if a formal citation should be issued.
According to Virginia state law, the penalty for a stop-arm violation is a fine of $250.
“Our goal is to educate drivers and stop the illegal passing of school buses,” said M. Jay Farr, chief of police for Arlington County. “Our number-one priority is to protect our citizens. We are proud to have this additional tool to help keep our children safe.”
You can find out more about the program on the school district’s website.
