Some crimes are considered inexcusable. For the student transportation industry, the prevalence of motorists illegally passing stopped school buses that are loading or unloading students fits this bill.
Too often, violators who ignore the buses’ flashing lights and extended stop signs get off scot-free — completely free from obligation, harm or penalty. Yet every day student riders remain in harm’s way.
When tragedy strikes, this can be the impetus for states to pass legislation that stiffens penalties or allows the use of video evidence to convict offenders. The latter solution may be easier to legislate than to enforce, however, according to several student transportation officials.
Despite the growing use of stop-arm cameras, these officials pointed out there is still debate about whether they are an effective deterrent to motorists.
Results of the Annual Stop Arm Violation Count by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) have shown little variation the past five years. In 2014, more than 97,000 school bus drivers in 29 states reported an estimated 76,000 motorists illegally passed stopped school buses on a given day. This year, as bus drivers nationwide participated in the fifth annual count, organizers predicted more of the same.
“Honestly, I am not expecting the numbers to go down,” said Derek Graham, survey co-coordinator and state director of pupil transportation services at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The state held its one-day count on March 18. “There’s more traffic, and there are more distractions. Even treading water is probably progress if things stay the same. But we still do what we can — the stakes are too high.”
Graham told STN that his state been working for years to raise awareness about the dangers of illegal passing (visit www.ncbussafety.org). Lawmakers are considering a bill designed to close a loophole in the state law that hinders prosecution of stop-arm violations.
SB 298 would allow a $500 fine to be levied on the owner of a vehicle caught on camera passing a school bus, and would require the owner to prove if someone else was driving the vehicle. After gaining approval in the Senate Education Committee, the bill went to the Senate Judiciary Committee in April, Graham said.
“I am hopeful it will move forward,” Graham added. “We don’t have any ability to assess civil penalties in stop-arm violation cases. We can’t do anything based just on the license tag. When we continue to have kids that are hurt or worse, it’s very discouraging.”
Since 1999, 13 students have been killed in North Carolina while boarding or exiting a school bus, with four of those deaths occurring in the 2012-2013 school year alone. Legislation named after one young victim, the Hasani N. Wesley Students’ School Bus Safety Act, passed in 2013 and increased the minimum fine for such violations. State law requires motorists to stop while the bus has its stop sign and flashing red lights engaged.
Nationally, nearly a dozen schoolchildren ages 5 to 18 die each year in school bus–related crashes involving motorists who illegally pass the bus, according to data from NHTSA, the Kansas State Department of Education and STN’s independent research.
Charlie Hood, executive director of NASDPTS and co-coordinator of the stop-arm survey, told STN the statewide counts do increase school bus safety awareness.
“We’ve seen a number of stories citing the counts since initiating the annual survey in 2011. Most people outside the school transportation community are surprised to learn how prevalent illegal passing is, and the media coverage we’ve seen as a result has helped raised motorist awareness,” said Hood, who retired last year as Florida’s state director of student transportation.
Quantifying the Problem
Hood noted that states have adopted various measures to tackle the problem of illegal passing, such as increasing penalties and strengthening law enforcement. Last year, Wyoming became the first state in the nation to mandate that every public school bus be equipped with stop-arm cameras. Twelve other state laws permit the use of cameras on bus exteriors to catch stop-arm runners, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Two states, Virginia and Indiana, took up school bus camera bills this session, yet neither passed. Another seven states, including New Jersey, New York and Tennessee, are considering bills that would allow school districts to use stop-arm cameras.
In New York, 26 school districts and 1,300 bus drivers participated in the recent stop-arm violation survey and recorded 259 incidents. About 100 occurred during the morning runs, and 153 during afternoon runs, including six on the right side of the bus.
But Peter Mannella, executive director of the New York Association for Pupil Transportation, noted that the figure would have been much higher if all 50,000 school buses and their drivers had participated.
“Had there been cameras on our buses, there would have been over 10,000 tickets issued and motorists reminded of the dangers of illegally passing stopped school buses,” said Mannella.
Every spring, NYAPT also conducts a one-day Operation Safe Stop enforcement campaign, which yields up to 1,300 tickets on average.
In North Carolina, school bus drivers in Buncombe County reported 120 stop-arm violations on count day — up from 70 violations five years ago. But fewer than 25 percent of these tickets actually led to convictions last year.
Graham said he is not surprised by the low conviction rates at all. “We’re seeing a variety from one county to another in the commitment and involvement of law enforcement and the district attorney’s office,” he added.
Allan Jones, Washington State’s director of student transportation services, said conviction rates for stop-arm runners are also spotty in his state because of varying levels of support from law enforcement and the courts.
“The bill allows stop-arm camera enforcement, and the majority of this fine goes to school districts for school bus loading zone safety projects. I think that’s one of the reasons why we’ve had a lot of difficulty getting local jurisdictions involved in enforcing them and play the game, because they don’t see anything in it for them,” Jones explained.
“That law passed four years ago and we’ve just had our first district start camera enforcement of stop arm violations. A lot of districts are waiting to see how the first district’s trial turns out.”
Questions Around Camera Use
Hood said photo and video evidence could be “a useful deterrent” in states that allow its usage to secure convictions as part of a larger, prolonged strategy of enforcement, education and other engineering measures.
“Cameras, where they exist, can catch nearly every violation, not just those where a law enforcement officer is present. No one technology or procedure alone is a panacea, however,” he continued. “The point is that a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach is needed to change motorist behavior and create a safety culture that is effective over the long term in minimizing illegal passing.”
Graham agreed, saying that he knows violations will continue to take place, which means the industry has more work to do educating students about dangers at the bus stop.
“They have to understand that not all the cars are going to stop, and they have to be extra vigilant,” he added. “Training is vital. In our state, based on the numbers we’re seeing, it’s clear we need to step that up.”
Veteran school bus safety consultant Dick Fischer of Trans-Consult has long advocated for enhanced bus driver training and standardized procedures, such as drivers using hand signals to ensure students across the street only when it is safe. According to his training materials, nearly two-thirds of K-12 children who die in school bus–related crashes each year are killed outside the bus.
“We’ve been fighting this as long as we have had school buses and cars on the road,” he told STN. “The more traffic and higher speed limits on streets, the more risk.”
Jones agreed that loading safety depends on properly trained bus drivers. He said that Washington State’s bus driver training encourages the use of hand signals as a best practice.
“Most of our school districts have adopted something, but we haven’t required a standard signal,” he noted.
However, Fischer is not completely on-board with using stop-arm cameras to enforce school bus stop laws. “It’s a way to make money for the owners of the cameras, courts and school districts. If the police and the courts do not wish to do the work, there’s no need to install the camera. If the district has to do the work, they do not have time to mess with them,” said Fischer.
James Walker, executive director of the National Motorists Association Foundation, has been a vocal opponent of stop-arm camera enforcement since 2011 and has urged lawmakers in Maryland and Pennsylvania to reconsider supporting such programs.
He wrote a March 10 letter to the editor of PennLive.com that Pennsylvania Rep. W. Curtis Thomas and the red-light camera lobby are aggressively pushing a new school bus stop-arm camera application in HB 634 that he said unfairly taxes motorists
“This is one of the latest photo-based traffic enforcement ‘solutions’ looking for a problem. Supporters play upon the strong emotions elicited by the prospects of schoolchildren being injured or killed by negligent motorists,” he wrote. “They imply cameras on school buses will save countless lives.”
Transportation chiefs Graham and Jones both acknowledged there has been controversy over using stop-arm cameras, which are linked to more widespread concern with red-light cameras.
“It’s a difficult argument to try to justify, but typically people are opposed to them because they don’t like the camera enforcement of laws. They feel that it’s an infringement on individual rights and it’s the first step in having cameras everywhere enforcing everything,” Jones explained.
“They need to realize it’s a different situation: Everyone wants (stop-arm cameras) — citizens aren’t complaining about these. Another issue with intersection cameras is they’re viewed as a way to generate revenue. With stop-arm cameras, that is not the issue.”
Support Needed for Success
Charles Territo, senior vice president of communications for American Traffic Solutions, emphasized that education is the end game for the stop-arm camera provider, not just revenue.
“We offer our customers a robust communication support campaign that helps educate the community about the laws regarding school bus stop-arm running. These programs shouldn’t be about issuing as many violations as possible — they should be about changing driver behavior and using the technology to help do that,” he said.
Territo asserts that stop-arm cameras are a deterrent and points to company research indicating that 99 percent of drivers who receive a violation don’t receive a second. He noted their school district partners — located primarily in states with supportive legislation — have seen a significant reduction in the number of violations issued.
“The reason you see that legislation is because of the success that places like Georgia, Maryland and Virginia have had with stop-arm camera enforcement,” he continued. “With our cameras, law enforcement and the courts are part of every program before the program launches.”
Territo said it is not uncommon for law enforcement to contact them for help in solving the problem of illegal passing. “Law enforcement, in most cases, has a good relationship with the school district and recognizes the challenges to enforcing a stop-arm violation. Many times in order for a police officer to enforce a stop-arm running violation, they have to run it themselves, and that could create a very dangerous situation,” he explained.
Lori Jetha, marketing communications manager at Seon, told STN that many customers are also seeing positive results after adopting stop-arm camera programs. Like at ATS, Jetha said Seon and enforcement partner Redspeed have had more success in states that allow camera enforcement of traffic laws.
“Video evidence, although effective, is not legally recognized and admissible by the courts in states without the legislation. However, we have quite a few customers who have gone ahead to develop direct relationships with local law enforcement to address the issue,” she said.
Jetha often shares stop-arm success stories as well as strategies for effective enforcement on Seon’s blog. Last year, she spotlighted Medical Lake (Wash.) School District #326, where Transportation Director Dan Cools reported that stop-arm cameras capture two violators per week on average. He stressed that having a good relationship with local law enforcement is the key.
When asked about the impact of ticketing on reducing the number of incidents, Cools replied, “Washington law specifically dictates that we can’t record the driver without their permission, so they need to acknowledge they were driving at the time of the incident. The difficult part is getting the drivers to admit that.”
Added Territo: “Anyone can put a stop arm camera on the bus, but the real value is enhancing the enforcement. And if you’re not issuing citations from that video, you’re not enforcing the law.”
