Drivers will have to be extra careful when approaching a stopped school bus in Hillsborough County.
In response to a state law passed last year, the district is installing cameras on its fleet to catch anyone who illegally passes a bus.
The state mandates that drivers must stop when school buses display the stop sign and flashing red lights while they're dropping off or picking up students.
But violations of the law happen all the time, according to Bus Patrol, the company equipping the Hillsborough fleet.
"Upwards of three violations [are] captured per bus per day," said Steve Randazzo, Bus Patrol's chief growth officer.
Another spokesperson for Bus Patrol said they're projecting about 7,000 to 10,000 violations will occur in a month. And, research shows this is not a new issue. A study conducted with the University of South Florida in 1995 showed that May of that year, 10,590 vehicles illegally passed stopped school buses in 58 of Florida's 67 school districts.
But with the camera system and a 30-day public awareness campaign, school and public safety officials are hoping this will help enforce the law and eventually curb those violations.
"It's not about ticketing," said Hillsborough superintendent Van Ayres, "it's to change driver behavior and protect our students every day."
Drivers who are caught will be issued tickets. A first stop-arm violation carries a fine of $225.
The funds will go toward bus driver recruitment and retention, as well as pay Bus Patrol to maintain the service.
Hillsborough Schools is looking at a shortage of about 120 bus drivers in the upcoming school year. That's an improvement from last year, when vacancies were more than double that, according to Ayres.
Cindy Stewart, Hillsborough Clerk of Court and Comptroller, echoed the district leaders' sentiment. Her office is in charge of collecting fees and fines if tickets become traffic citations.
"None of my partners view this progress as an income source," Stewart said. "I will consider this program a success if there are no tickets written and there is no money collected because that means drivers have received the message and they put the safety of our children in the school district first."
Warning period between Aug. 12 - Sept. 12
A 30-day warning period, where tickets will not be issued yet, will jumpstart the bus safety program. Between Aug. 12 and September 12th, violators will be given a warning notice.
After that, drivers will be issued tickets if they violate the law. Randazzo explained that Bus Patrol's AI technology AVA will review the footage taken during bus stops and detect illegal passers.
The sheriff's office then conducts an additional screening, and makes the decision to issue a ticket.
Bus Patrol services over 300,000 school buses across 16 states. In Florida, they're contracted with Miami-Dade and, now, Hillsborough, which is its largest fleet with over 1,000 vehicles, according to Randazzo.
"We stand ready to partner with the community to really drive down those illegal passings, to create community awareness," said Randazzo.
Randazzo added that they've also installed, at no cost, interior cameras and panic buttons on buses to better monitor behavior incidents and emergencies.
Districts across Florida are implementing safety cameras in response to the state law. Polk County recently installed bus cameras for the upcoming school year as well.
