VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — With many instances mounting where drivers illegally pass stopped school buses, the Virginia Beach City Public School system has decided to take action.
The school system has added exterior cameras to its school buses that can capture pictures and videos of motorists illegally passing when stop arms are extended and red lights are flashing.
Images of these passing drivers will be passed on to the Virginia Beach Police Department for review and can result in $250 citations for drivers at fault.
The cameras are activated when a bus's stop arm deploys. The cameras can detect any vehicle coming from any direction that passes a bus and can also capture the vehicle's license plates and GPS location.
It's Virginia law to not pass a school bus if the bus's stop arm is extended.
"This is a national problem, and if we can do something to prevent a single tragedy we will," said VBCPS Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence. "We hope that no citations are issued. We hope that motorists choose to always stop. It only takes a minute or so out of a driver's time for children to get on or off the bus safely."
100 buses have been equipped with cameras. VBCPS and VBPD will monitor the program to evaluate the system and determine whether more cameras are needed.
"If needed, other school buses will be outfitted with cameras," said VBCPS Executive Director of Transportation David Pace. "However, our hope is that we don't need additional cameras because motorists are stopping to keep students safe."