Technology Tuesday: New Technology could Lead to Catching School Bus Violators
An accident involving a school bus has led to an innovative tool to improve bus and pedestrian safety. A new technological device will now be able to target drivers who pass stopped school buses or violate other laws, according to a Today Show segment and article. The invention was inspired after an 11-year-old student in North Carolina was hit by a car who failed to stop at the school bus.
“All I remember was seeing a car and I was so scared, and then I just knew the car was going to hit me, “said Michael Burgess, who spend days in the hospital. “I felt pretty lucky that I’m alive now because I thought I’d die, because the car was going really fast.” The driver, the article said, received a ticket for passing a stopped school bus and for failing to reduce speed.
“The Department of Transportation says that 23 million children ride a school bus every day,” said the article. “And according to the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Information Services, vehicles pass stopped school buses more than 70,000 times a day, even though passing one with its lights flashing is illegal in all 50 states. Now police are using new technology to catch the violators.”
The Rossen Reports team, the article said, “followed a school bus with the Broward County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.” When the bus stopped, “five cars flew by, even though the bus had its stop sign out and red lights flashing,” the article said. “To me, they’re not paying attention or they don’t see it,” said Florida Deputy Sam Pegano. “We’re talking about lives, children that could be hit.”
School districts across the country, the article said, “are installing new technology on school buses: little cameras that activate when the bus stops.” These cameras “capture the license plate numbers of any cars that fly by,” and “violators are sent tickets in the mail, with fines ranging from $100 all the way up to $1,000.”
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