The school bus is one of the safest modes of transport for children traveling to and from school. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, students are about 70 times more likely to get to school safely when taking the school bus instead of traveling by car.
However, children are most at risk as they approach and leave the bus, largely because of the increasing risk of stop-arm violations. Drivers that illegally pass stopped school buses put children at risk of fatalities and from 2008 to 2017, more than 120 drivers and passengers were killed in school transportation vehicles.
BusPatrol’s safety technology can significantly improve student safety. Software like stop-arm camera systems can help to reduce the number of stop-arm violations by capturing violators and changing driver behavior.
If the technology to improve student safety is out there, why aren’t all school buses equipped?
Read on to discover some of the greatest barriers to student safety and how BusPatrol can help school districts and municipalities to overcome these.
Time and Resources: BusPatrol’s Safety Program is Automated and Efficient
One of the main barriers preventing school districts from investing in student safety is a lack of time and resources. The majority of school districts don’t have the time to answer all of the demands of building a robust automated traffic enforcement program. They may not have the people on hand to do this either because they’re busy trying to find bus drivers to drive buses and manage runs and routes.
BusPatrol’s stop-arm camera system is cloud-connected, meaning that stop-arm violations can be automatically recorded and sent via the cloud to processing centers to be made into evidence packages.
This means that school districts and municipalities don’t have to worry about spending time manually pulling hard drives out of buses, searching for files, shipping these to processing centers, and creating paper copies of potential violations.
Money: Violators Become the Revenue Stream Through School Bus Camera Tickets
Another major barrier that stops school districts from being able to properly invest in student safety is money. Advanced artificial intelligence-powered technology is expensive and not all school districts have the funds necessary to invest, even if it could improve school bus safety.
BusPatrol’s unique business model means that school districts and municipalities can equip their entire fleet with the latest safety technology at no-cost. Money raised from school bus camera tickets is used to install and maintain the software and cover the school bus stop-arm camera costs. This means that the violators that endanger children’s lives become the revenue stream.
Legislation: Stop-Arm Cameras Are Not Permitted in Every State
Despite their proven ability to improve student safety and change driver behavior, school bus stop-arm cameras aren’t permitted in every state. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, just 22 states explicitly permit local governments or school districts to use stop-arm cameras to capture evidence and issue tickets for illegally passing stopped school buses based on the images.
BusPatrol can work with school districts to campaign to change legislation to allow the installation of stop-arm camera programs and improve student safety.
Interested in learning more about our no-cost stop-arm enforcement program?
Contact BusPatrol to find out more!
