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.
HHJ News
