Most drivers know that when the illuminated stop sign pops out from the side of a school bus, it’s time to wait.
But Hillsborough buses were passed by inattentive or hurried drivers roughly three times every day last year, according to data collected by the district.
A program unveiled Thursday aims to curb that trend.
Starting Aug. 12, every public school bus in the district — a fleet of nearly 1,000 vehicles that transport 78,000 students per day — will be equipped with cameras that start rolling automatically once the stop arm is extended, district superintendent Van Ayres said Thursday.
Drivers who blow by the stop sign will receive a warning in the mail for the first 30 days of the program. After Sept. 12, they’ll receive a $225 fine. Offenders have 30 days to pay or contest the ticket, after which it’s automatically converted to a uniform traffic violation, which can come with more severe penalties — up to losing their driver’s license.
The program is the largest student transportation safety program in state history, said Steve Randazzo, a spokesperson for BusPatrol, a Virginia company that provided the camera equipment to the district free of charge.
The district will pay a monthly subscription fee in exchange for BusPatrol’s service monitoring the camera footage for offenders. The company also provided interior cameras and a panic button inside each bus that alerts a designated school official if pushed by a bus driver.
Adding stop cameras in other states decreased offenses by up to 40% per year, Randazzo said. Fewer than 10% of drivers who received a ticket ever repeated the behavior, he added.
The new system will be a huge relief to drivers, Hillsborough bus driver Carlos Hernández said. In his three years with the district, a car would illegally pass his bus at least once a day, but he reported fewer than a dozen cases.
“You have to remember the plate, find paper and a pen,” he said. “And this while you’re supposed to be paying attention to the road, to the kids in the back.”
The automatic system takes that hassle out of drivers’ hands, he said.
Every time a driver would drive through his stop sign, Hernández would tense up.
“It’s the most dangerous time, when the stop arm is extended,” he said, “because it’s when the kids feel the most safe.”