Keeping a watchful eye on school bus safety

Cameras have been installed on Baltimore County school buses to record drivers who illegally pass them. One of the video cameras, mounted below the word “Public,” records drivers as they pass stopped school buses. Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said that in a one-day study during the past school year, 387 drivers illegally passed school buses. Staff file

A small milestone passed recently in Baltimore County. Hopefully, at least for most families, it went unnoticed. As of now, any driver who fails to stop for a stopped school bus in the county that has activated its flashing lights will be issued a $250 ticket. Well, at least in most instances. Prior to the start of the school year, automated cameras were installed on 80% of the vehicles in the Baltimore County Public Schools fleet. They are designed to record infractions as they happen. For the first 30 days, owners of vehicles digitally recorded by the cameras received a warning. Now, it’s citation time — with a fine presumably large enough to get the owner’s attention.

We certainly hope so. Each year, school bus-involved crashes injure thousands of people including pedestrians, killing dozens. Granted, it’s not a common experience. Riding a school bus is statistically safer than commuting by car or walking to school and there are more than 21 million schoolchildren riding those buses daily across the United States, according to the National Safety Council. But these are very preventable crashes. By merely complying with the law and giving kids a wide berth when they are boarding or leaving a bus, drivers can spare youngsters serious injury or worse.

So citations for passing a school bus are rare, right? If only. During the first two weeks of school, more than 800 warnings were issued. The hope is that they are getting attention when they show up in the mail. And the fine should be getting even more. Car owners who fail to pay could lose the right to register their vehicles. Under state law, the fines can be used to help pay for those onboard cameras and administrative costs associated with the program.

We know there are drivers who deeply resent the growing number of automated enforcement systems in Maryland, particularly receiving in the mail the now-$80 fine for getting caught on camera traveling 12 miles per hour or more faster than the posted limit near a school or in a highway work zone. But we doubt they’d feel that way if they’d ever lost a loved one to a negligent driver. The bottom line: Follow the law, brake for school buses and it won’t cost you a dime.