Sacramento, CA, March 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
- Sacramento City Unified School District partnered with BusPatrol to trial stop-arm safety technology and see how often cars illegally pass stopped school buses
- School buses equipped in the pilot were passed more than 1.3 times per bus per day
- From November to February, only five school buses recorded more than 387 stop-arm violation incidents
Sacramento City Unified School District has announced the results of a pilot program with safety technology company, BusPatrol.
As part of the pilot, five school buses were equipped with stop-arm cameras to record how often motorists ignore school bus stop-arms. From November 14th to February 25th, 387 vehicles illegally passed school buses that were stopped to load and unload children. This equates to 1.3 stop-arm violations per bus per day.
Speaking about the results of the pilot, Christina Pritchett, President, Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education, said: "Sacramento City Unified School District is committed to ensuring student safety both at school and on the journey there and back. This pilot program only captured a fraction of the problem and shows that more needs to be done. People need to learn that stop means stop."
California state law requires vehicles to stop for a stopped school bus with its stop-arm extended and red lights flashing. Under current legislation, school districts and law enforcement agencies are not permitted to use automated stop-arm cameras to cite violators.
Jean Souliere, CEO and Founder at BusPatrol, said: "BusPatrol is conducting pilots like this across California and the United States. The results are, shockingly, consistently high. Local parents, bus drivers, and concerned citizens are looking to address the problem with technology. Automated enforcement technology like stop-arm cameras can help change driver behavior and effectively reduce the rate of violations in a community."
Campaigners and school bus safety advocates across California are calling for better legislation to keep students safe on the journey to and from school. If you would like to take action to make roads safer, contact your state representative today and express your support for AB284 and the use of school bus safety technology.
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