Miami school bus cameras cited 11,500 drivers in the first two weeks of school
In the 13 days since Miami-Dade public schools started the new school year, more than 11,500 drivers have received citations thanks to the district’s new camera system that catches and fines drivers who don’t stop for school buses. At $225 a pop, that could mean about $2.5 million in citations.
In July 2023, Florida authorized the installation of cameras on school buses as an effort to increase safety for students exiting and entering school buses. Although the law requiring drivers to stop for stopped buses was already in place, the addition of cameras to buses means that more drivers than ever are being cited for disobeying the law.
“There have been numerous accidents nationwide where children have been struck while exiting a bus, and children have been injured; it’s a huge safety concern,” said detective Andre Martin at the Miami-Dade Police Department.
There are now 950 school buses across the county equipped with cameras designed to catch drivers who illegally pass buses.
The enforcement of this initiative is a collaborative agreement between Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the Miami-Dade Police Department and BusPatrol, a private company managing the buses and the high-resolution artificial intelligence technology that is triggered when the school bus sign is deployed. The technology photographs the license plates of cars that fail to stop.
So far this year, there is an average of around 1,600 citations per school day, meaning that around $2.5 million in citations have been issued. The money earned from the citations gets funneled back into the program.
“Obviously with the number of violations we are seeing, its a wonder we do not have more accidents,” said Martin. The office is going through historical crash data to see if there are specific incidents of children being struck after getting off a bus.
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 United States. In April, a 6-year-old was hospitalized after being hit by a car while exiting a school bus in Polk County, Fla.
In a video posted by Miami-Dade Police to X you can see several drivers illegally passing school buses while a flashing STOP sign was extended in the front and back of the school bus. You can also see children crossing the street as drivers ignore the stopped bus.
“The number of citations we have seen in Miami-Dade is stunning,” said Donny Wolfe, vice president of government relations at BusPatrol, the company that operates the cameras. BusPatrol has programs in 17 states and says that what they have seen is that as awareness around the law grow, numbers drop significantly.
According to the law, as long as the bus “STOP” flashing arm is extended, drivers must stop and remain stopped until the flashing stops. This applies to traffic traveling in both directions, except if there is a raised median in between. Police officers and firefighters must also comply.
Wolfe is a father in Miami himself, and urges his fellow Miamians to drive safely and pay attention to school buses. “I hope this continues to curb reckless driver behavior,” said Wolfe of the program.
This story was originally published August 28, 2024 at 4:44 PM.
