BOE, Sheriff address issue of bus passing

Special to the Journal

A safety initiative to

help keep school bus riders safer begins this month in Houston County. The

Houston County Board of Education, Houston County Sheriff’s Office and American

Traffic Solutions (ATS) have partnered to address the growing problem of illegal

passing of school buses when stopped for students to board or depart the bus. 

In 2011 in Houston County, 36 motorists illegally ran bus stop arms in one day.

In 2012, the number of drivers who ignored the stop arm jumped to 86. In

addition, Georgia leads the nation in deaths of children as a result of

accidents outside of the school bus according to the National School Bus

Loading and Unloading Survey.

To address this growing concern, cameras will be mounted on 20 select school

buses to video and photograph vehicles that illegally pass the stop arm. The

camera will activate whenever a motorist runs the stop arm, capturing an image

of the license plates of drivers who ignore stop arms and flashing lights.

The video and images will

be reviewed by American Traffic Solutions (ATS), which will in turn submit

those that appear to be violations to the Houston County Sheriff Office. The

Sheriff’s Office will then review the evidence to approve issuing citation to

violators. Infractions are a civil violation with penalties ranging from $300

to $1,000.

School Board chairperson Marianne Melnick commented, “Our goal is to educate

and alert drivers to the dangers of illegally passing school buses. Keeping our

children safe is our number one priority, and we want to change driver

behaviors in a positive way to protect the lives of the children who ride our

buses to and from school every day.”

“We are pleased to be a part of this

collaboration,” said Sheriff Cullen Talton. “This new technology has

consequences for those who break the law and jeopardize the safety of our

students.”

The most common questions drivers ask

about stopping for school buses are:

Q. If I’m approaching the school bus on

a road with a center turning lane, do I need to stop?

A. When the school bus stops for passengers, ALL

traffic from both directions must stop.

Q. If I’m driving on a four-lane road without a median separation, do I need

to stop?

A. When the school bus stops for passengers, ALL

traffic from both directions must stop.

Q. If I’m driving on a divided highway

of four lanes or more with a median

separation, do I need to stop?

A. When

the school bus stops for passengers, only traffic following the bus must stop.

To educate the public about this safety concern and the cameras, a public service

announcement (PSA) video has been created about this latest student safety

initiative. The PSA may be viewed on the HCBOE website at www.hcbe.net.

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