COLUMBIA, S.C. — It’s National School Bus Safety Week and early Wednesday Morning the South Carolina Department of Education and the Department of Public Safety showcased some of the changes that will be made to buses across the state.
Among the new rules are cameras that will be on the stop arms of school buses which are designed to catch when a driver tried to go around a school bus when it's dropping off or collecting students.
“That’s 3,752 times when a motorist illegally passes a school bus,” said Colonel Christopher Williams from South Carolina Highway Patrol while talking Wednesday at a news conference about the problem of people passing buses
“When you see the stop arm, we beg you please stop,” added Williams.
The issue of drivers ignoring the stop signs on buses greatly concerns parents across Columbia.
“I have a little one and I can’t imagine someone ignoring the law and something happening to my child, because someone you know wasn’t abiding by the law,” said Stacia Harrison, Parent.
“I think it’s one of the most disrespectful things you can do to a child,” added Nicole Howardson, a grandparent.
Richard Podmore is the Director of Safety with the Department of Education and said the continued issues of drivers breaking the law means they’ve had to change the way the buses operate, “We are adding stop arm cameras onto the bus what those will do is detect someone who passes a bus with the stop arm extended it then sends an alert we are able to capture that incident and share that with law enforcement," he explained.
If you decide to drive past a stopped school bus the fine is more than $1,000 and six points against your driver’s license.
“We are in the process of adding this driver alert on the back of the door, which will alert drivers that are approaching the bus from the rear that the bus is preparing to stop," Podmore said. "We’ve added a second stop arm on the opposite side of the bus, we have employed extended stop arms in addition to the existing stop arms, hitter boards that are lighted so the buses are more visible,”.
Those are changes Howardson supports. “I like the lights, I like the additional stop signs, I like the additional arms, but what I like the most camera that’s my favorite part, because then you have maybe it makes people aware oh there is a camera there I can't be seen," she said
These changes start with the first 160 electric buses and will later expand to older buses across the state, though a timeline is yet to be set.