TEMPE, Ariz. — The Cobb County School District, one of the first in the nation to add stop arm cameras to their school buses, the Cobb County Police Department, and American Traffic Solutions (ATS) have released a video Public Service Announcement (PSA) to help educate the community about their latest student safety initiative. The video explains how the CrossingGuard school bus stop-arm safety solution works.
It also highlights the role of law enforcement, the penalties issued and the importance of school bus safety.
“With more than 1,000 Cobb County school buses on the road every day, student safety is our biggest concern,” stated Rick Grisham, Executive Director of Transportation, Cobb County School District. “Unfortunately, stop-arm violations are far too common. We want the public to be aware that when a school bus stop arm is out, all traffic must stop. That’s the law. Thanks to these new cameras, there will be consequences for those who break the law and jeopardize the safety of our students.”
Prompted by a 2009 fatality of a Cobb County elementary school student struck by a passing vehicle as she exited her school bus, Cobb County Schools has recently installed school bus cameras to prevent future tragedies. The video details their campaign to ensure the safety of their students by catching drivers who illegally drive by school buses when they stop to pick up or drop off students.
Featured in the video is James Arrowood, Director of Public Safety, Cobb County School District, who states, “These cameras will allow us to be more proactive in our enforcement of the stop-arm violations and hopefully we will get the message out to the public that serious consequences can occur when you run the stop arm.”
Viewers will see how the CrossingGuard solution, which mounts purpose-built cameras on the side of the school bus, automatically detects a vehicle illegally passing the stop arm and captures video of the violation including the vehicle’s license plate. They will learn how law enforcement reviews the violation video and license plate images for approval prior to a citation being issued and the penalties that range from $300 to $1,000 for stop-arm violations.
“The goal of the Cobb County Police Department is to keep our citizens safe,” said Lt. Hawk Hagebak. “One of the newest ways that technology has provided is the Stop Arm Camera System. Help us protect our children: Stop means Stop. If you pass a bus that is loading or unloading and don’t stop, you will be ticketed. Consider yourself warned.”
About American Traffic Solutions
ATS is proud to be the largest road safety camera program service provider in North America with awards or contracts with nearly 300 local jurisdictions in 21 states and Washington, D.C. ATS has more than 3,000 installed red-light and speed safety cameras serving more than 30 million people.
