Legislation that has already passed the Maryland House could double the maximum civil penalty levied against motorists who are caught on video running the school bus stop arm and flashing red lights.
The State Senate held a hearing last month on HB 471 after the House unanimously passed the bill introduced by Del. Benjamin Kramer to increase the fine to $500. Motorists must be recorded by a school bus monitoring camera to be found guilty.
State law authorizes local law enforcement and a county board of education to install video cameras on school buses contingent upon a local ordinance being enacted to allow the surveillance. The law enforcement agency reviews any alleged infractions and may issue warnings or citations to vehicle owners or drivers. The maximum fine is currently $250.
Since 2013, the presence of school bus stop-arm cameras have resulted in at least 1,500 citations issues to motorists for illegal passing, according to a study published last month by AAA Mid-Atlantic. The majority of these tickets, 1,024 to be exact, were issued in Montgomery County. AAA Mid-Atlantic added that these fines totaled $129,024.
Montgomery County Public Schools operates a fleet of 1,271 buses, but only 25 are installed with stop-arm cameras at any given time, said Fleet Manager Robert Hefner. He explained that, so far, the district only uses the video cameras on routes where motorists have most often been observed running the stop arm. He added that many of the cameras are also wired in a way that they can be removed and transferred to other buses, as the needs arise.
“I can’t believe how many people run the cameras,” he said. “It just amazes me that people actually do it.”
Before Montgomery County Public Schools installed the stop-arm cameras on school buses in 2010, police officers had to patrol problem areas to cite motorists. Capt. Tom Didone of the Montgomery County Police Department said officers issued less than 500 citations in the years prior to the district installing the cameras.
But ever since, 891 of the more than 1,000 motorists cited have paid their violations, and only 16 motorists challenged the citations.
“The fact that so many people passed over 25 buses is quite alarming, and it is a wake-up call that this issue is more problematic than we thought,” Didone added. “We believe that the use of safety cameras on school buses is a valued asset for law enforcement agencies to protect our children.”
