BusPatrol, the leading stop-arm enforcement solution in the nation, today announced it is expanding its school bus safety program through a new partnership with Hillsborough County Public Schools. As students across Florida prepare to return to the classroom, school districts are ramping up efforts to enhance child safety.
The Hillsborough County School Bus Safety Program will see the district’s entire fleet of over 1,000 buses equipped with the most cutting-edge stop-arm cameras in the country, making it the largest safety initiative of its kind in the state. The cameras use artificial intelligence to detect cars that illegally pass stopped school buses, aiding law enforcement in tackling the rise of reckless and illegal motorist behavior around school buses.
“Recent studies show Florida drivers illegally pass stopped school buses more than three times per bus per day. This is unacceptable for our students,” said Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent Van Ayres. “This initiative is more about curbing the behavior of drivers than it is about ticketing. We have to make our bus routes safer for our children.”
The latest partnership builds on the success of the program in Miami-Dade County. In May, Miami-Dade County Public Schools launched the first and largest school bus safety initiative in Florida’s history, deploying BusPatrol’s technology across the district’s 1,000-bus fleet. During its first month, the program sent out over 10,000 warning letters to drivers who violated the school bus stopping law.
Over 2,000 buses statewide have been modernized with cutting-edge safety technology.
“Florida school buses are illegally passed up to 11,000 times each day,” noted Justin Meyers, President and Chief Innovation Officer at BusPatrol. “We applaud Hillsborough County Public Schools and Miami-Dade County Public Schools for their proactive efforts to protect students on their journeys to and from school. We’re excited to collaborate with communities across Florida to drive down illegal passing and make roads safer for children.”
Hillsborough County School District will kick off a public awareness campaign and warning period starting August 12, during which motorists will receive warning letters with no monetary penalty. After 30 days, drivers who fail to stop for a bus with its red lights flashing will face a $225 fine, in accordance with Florida State law.