SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Earlier this week, Miami-Dade County Public Schools announced a partnership with BusPatrol to launch a School Bus Safety Program with Miami-Dade Law Enforcement.
MDCPS announced on Tuesday that school buses in the district are now equipped with safety technology, including stop-arm enforcement cameras designed to detect and ticket vehicles that illegally pass stopped school buses.
BusPatrol released a video demonstrating how the technology works as the camera sensor detects movement on the left side of the bus and captures the license plate of anyone who does not stop and drives past a stopped school bus.
This safety initiative seeks to curb dangerous motorist behavior around school buses and make the journey to and from school safer for all student riders.
MDCPS partnered with BusPatrol to launch the program with Miami-Dade Police
According to the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), school buses are unlawfully passed an estimated 43.5 million times each school year in the U.S.
7News captured multiple vehicles illegally passing school buses and failing to yield as student riders entered or exited the school bus on Thursday.
A statement from BusPatrol states that the new technology will “help to change this awful behavior and bring a new era of child safety to our roadways here in Miami-Dade.”
“There is nothing more important than the safety of our students. The statistics around child safety on our roads are truly disturbing. The reckless driving behavior recorded during the pilot for this program was shocking and terrifying. Drivers need to take School Bus Safety seriously and stop when they see a school bus deploy its stop arm. This program will help to change this awful behavior and bring a new era of child safety to our roadways here in Miami-Dade.”
BusPatrol
All school buses in the Miami-Dade district are equipped with the new cameras.
The 30-day warning period began on Monday, April 8, stating if you passed a school bus while the red lights were on or if the stop arm was displayed, the cameras would read your license plate and send you a warning in the mail.
The live ticketing begins on May 8. The first offense is a mail-written warning. The second offense is a $200 fine.
“This is about to take place and if you violate, unfortunately, you will receive a $200 fine,” said Luis Diaz, Chief Operating Officer of MDCPS. “This will unfortunately trigger some conversation, and unfortunately for those that violate and feel that they do not feel the need to obey the law, will unfortunately have to pay a financial fine.”
Diaz said this was a major step in favor of children’s security.
“This would be something that everyone should be doing every day that’s transporting in a car,” said Diaz.
This new partnership and law doesn’t come with legislative hurdles.
Senate Bill 766 was signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in May 2023 allowing the identification of school bus driving-related infractions. Since the legislature passed the bill, updates have been made that evolved around what to do with the revenue generated from ticketing people.
With a possible update to the law, it may change the target date for the live ticketing.
For now, Diaz said May 8 is the goal to start live ticketing.
“The community will know what is expected on May 8 so that is our goal and that’s basically our target. That’s game day for us,” said Diaz.
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