Schools

Cameras Will Fight Illegal Passing of School Buses

The Paulding County School District will partner with American Traffic Solutions for the school bus stop arm safety initiative.

Paulding County Schools will partner with American Traffic Solutions (ATS) to 
deploy CrossingGuard®, ATS’ new technology to help school districts address the growing problem of illegal passing of school buses that are stopped and boarding or disembarking children, according to a news release from the Paulding County Sheriff's Office.

 In 2011, Georgia passed legislation to permit counties to equip school buses with video cameras to catch drivers who illegally drive by school buses when they stop to pick up or drop off students. “Our goal is to educate our drivers and community regarding the dangers of passing a school bus when it is stopped to load or unload students. Drivers passing a stopped school bus whose indicator lights are flashing and stop arm extended create a dangerous environment for our students. We hope this program helps to awaken drivers to the dangers of illegally passing school buses,” said Terre Loveall, Director of Transportation. “Keeping the students of Paulding County safe is our number one priority. It is important that drivers educate themselves on the Georgia School Bus Stop laws. Violations of this law put our students’ lives in danger. We hope this initiative will change driver behaviors and help us protect the lives of children who ride a school bus to and from school every day.”

The CrossingGuard® school bus arm safety solution, mounts purpose-built cameras on the side of the school bus. When the stop arm is deployed, the camera automatically detects a vehicle illegally passing the stop arm in either direction and captures video of the violation and still images of a vehicle‘s license plate.

The violation video and license plate images are then reviewed by law enforcement for approval prior to a citation being issued. In Georgia, the penalty for a first stop-arm violation will warrant the vehicle’s owner a $300 fine for the first violation, a $750 fine for the second, and a third 
violation in a five-year period will result in a $1,000 fine.

“We are excited about this collaboration between the Paulding County School District, Paulding County Sheriff’s Office and American Traffic Solutions,” said Sheriff Gary Gulledge. “This new technology will, no doubt, enhance the safety of our highways by protecting all of us--most importantly our most valued resource, our children.”


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