(LEX 18) — As more than 380,000 Kentucky students ride the bus to school this year, the director of transportation and maintenance at Bourbon County Public Schools say illegally passing a school bus puts Kentucky students at risk.
Justin Roe says the district's transportation department is off to a smoother start than last year with a fully staffed team. However, they now face another familiar challenge: drivers illegally passing school buses when stop arms and signal lights are activated.
"It frankly gets pretty dangerous for the kids," Roe said.
At this point in the school year, the district might see three to four stop sign runners each day. Fortunately, they have technology in place to address the problem.
The district's buses are equipped with multiple cameras that record activity both inside and outside the vehicles, allowing drivers to alert the transportation department when violations occur.
"They're going to let us know immediately when something like that happens, they have a way they can cue the camera, so if something happens they can press a button and automatically cue us, we don't have to search through hours of footage, it time stamps it for us," Roe said.
This footage can then be shared with police to help identify and prosecute violators.
"We've worked with multiple law enforcement agencies across the county, this is something they take a particular interest in," Roe said.
Law enforcement also collaborates with the school district to identify problem areas.
"They also talk to us about hot spots in the county, if there's anywhere they can go to help monitor these things, and focus on those violations," Roe said.
The issue extends beyond Bourbon County. A new survey from the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services shows more than 1,500 Kentucky school bus drivers reported nearly 1,300 infractions in a single day in May.
Roe hopes drivers will remember the law, allowing bus drivers to keep their eyes on the road and student safety.
"We probably have about four to six cameras situated through these buses, looking down, so we can almost catch every part of a bus," Roe said.
