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In a few weeks, school will be starting for students around the Tampa Bay area, and that means you’ll see the big yellow school bus more often.
Hillsborough County will use new technology this year to curb illegal driving behavior around school buses.
A report from 2018 found around 11,000 drivers illegally passed stopped school buses each school day in Florida.
Now Hillsborough County Public Schools are doing something about it.
The county has installed safety cameras on school buses to record and ticket motorists that illegally pass the buses while the stop arm is out.
The A-I-enabled cameras come from tech company BusPatrol.
Van Ayres is the superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools.
“The focus of this program, let me be clear, is not about ticketing drivers, it’s to change driver behavior and protect our students every day.”
Thomas St. John is a Chief Deputy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
“This initiative will hold violators accountable, change behavior over time, and ultimately make our roads safer for our children.”
The program will begin with a 30-day warning period and education campaign to remind motorists to stop for school buses.
And then on September 12, tickets will start going out.
Carlos Hernandez is a bus driver for Hillsborough Schools.
“When the stop arms are open, that’s when the kids are most vulnerable, because they’re trying to get to the bus.”
The buses were also equipped with interior cameras and panic buttons for drivers.
