Count, Listen and Then Act
DISTRICTS SHOULD TALLY STOP-ARM RUNNING INCIDENTS, CONSULT WITH DRIVERS AND WORK WITH POLICE AND THE COURTS WHEN WEIGHING ENFORCEMENT STRATEGIES
WRITTEN BY ERIC WOOLSON S
Cobb County Schools in Georgia employs a mascot named Hawkeye to promote school bus stop-arm laws and bus stop safety to the general public.
chool districts thinking about start- ing programs to cite motorists who illegally pass buses should listen to the recommendations of bus drivers
and fleet managers. Tey bring local law enforcement agencies and court officials into the process from the start. Te first step should be to “quantify the extent of the school bus stop-arm running problem in your district,” said Charles Territo, senior vice president of communications, marketing and public affairs at Phoenix-based American Traffic Solutions. “Te transportation
director should work with local police to understand the extent of the problem. If they decide they’d like to proceed, they should do some research, look at some of the different programs around the
country and understand the different offerings vendors are providing,” Territo explained. “Anyone can put a camera on the side of a bus and cap- ture video. What makes a stop-arm program effective is the ability to not only capture events but to turn them into prosecutable violations.” Tom O’Connor, president of Student Guardian at Redflex Traffic Systems also based in Phoenix, agreed that districts re- search violation numbers before moving forward.
52 School Transportation News April 2014 “A school district that wants to start a
program has to have a fundamental agree- ment that it has an issue. Tat’s the biggest thing,” O’Connor said. Territo suggested that deciding exactly
how many illegal passing incidents merit an enforcement program is a matter best left to the district. “For some districts, one stop-arm run
may be enough. For others, the threshold may be higher,” he offered. “Ultimately, they need to decide whether or not a program really makes sense for them.” He added: “Te individuals best suited to make the determination are school bus drivers and transportation directors. Tey’re the ones with the empirical and anecdotal evidence needed to make a decision.” ATS has approximately 500 stop-arm
cameras in use in more than a dozen dis- tricts in Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Texas and Washington, with a pilot program un- der way in Florida. Te company partners with AngelTrax. Although cost may not be an obstacle,
many districts are still slow to adopt en- forcement programs, said Territo. “But, as they become more familiar with
technology and see the success districts around the country are having, we should expect the number of districts using camer- as to continue to grow,” he added. He noted several data points can be used to measure the success of enforce- ment efforts. “Ultimately, these programs are about changing driver behavior. Te first metric
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