Legislators Now Want Cameras On The Outside Of School Buses

Lawmakers want school buses equipped with cameras on the outside to catch stop-arm violators

After a tragic week where children in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi were killed by reckless drivers while boarding their school buses, legislators are now pushing for school buses to have cameras on the outside to take photos of drivers who illegally pass the bus when the stop arm is deployed.

Honestly, yes — this needs to be a thing everywhere.

After a heartwrenching local incident that left three siblings dead, Indiana legislators want to add cameras to the outside of school buses across the state. Rep. Jim Pressel says he was already working on such legislation before the accident that killed a nine-year-old girl and her six-year-old twin brothers earlier this week.

After the Indiana tragedy, — also this week — a 7-year-old boy and a 9-year-old boy were killed at their bus stops due to drivers who didn’t stop for school buses.

If legislation were to pass, the photos of drivers who illegally pass the school buses would be shared with law enforcement agencies who would then issue charges or citations.

Stop-arm violations are as common as they are incredibly dangerous. While each of the 50 states requires drivers to stop when a school bus displays its flashing red lights, these laws are violated regularly.

A 2014 survey conducted by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services surveyed 97,000 school bus drivers across the country who reported more than 75,000 drivers illegally drove past school buses in the act of dropping off and picking up children in a single day.

More state lawmakers need to start proposing legislation for school buses to be equiped with cameras on the outside. This is a nationwide crisis.

Finding a solution to crack down on the number of stop-arm violations that occur every day isn’t an easy task, but adding cameras that can lead to identifying perpetrators and would hopefully reduce the number of violations.

Indiana Rep. Ed DeLaney is all for adding cameras to school buses in his state — and everywhere else, too.

“It’s only right that we learn from accidents,” he tells FOX59 News. “The price is way too high. This is shocking. The thought that a child might get hit because we were not careful enough that was always there but this kind of an event was really beyond our imagination.”