One such device is the Student Detection System, from Rostra Precision Controls of North Carolina. The system includes sensors on the front, rear, and both sides of the bus. When a child is detected in one of those areas, an alarm signals an audio and visual alert to the driver. Mobile Awareness of Ohio sells the SenseStat system, which prevents backing accidents, and the VisionStat video camera system that limits blind spots.

Cameras catch school bus scofflaws

Another bus-safety trend that’s on the rise is the use of external video cameras to catch motorists who pass a school bus that is stopped with its lights flashing.

School districts that will be taking this approach this year include Cobb County, Ga., and at least six districts in Connecticut.

In July, Cobb County’s school board unanimously voted to allow an Arizona-based company to issue $300 citations to motorists they film driving around stopped school buses. The company, American Traffic Solutions, will use images from more than 100 cameras the school system will install on school buses to catch the impatient or distracted drivers.

“We’re very happy to see this initiative move forward,” said Mandi Call, a Cobb County parent who helped spur the initiative. “The bottom line for us is the safety of the children. That’s always what it’s been about for us.”

The new contract will allow American Traffic Solutions to keep up to 75 percent of generated revenue from the citations issued; the company will absorb the cost of the cameras.

Cobb County police and the school system will split the rest of the generated revenue for administrative costs. Before mailing a citation, American Traffic Solutions will send the video and an image to Cobb County police to confirm there has been a violation.

A state law was passed in 2011 that allowed school systems to install cameras on the outside of their buses to catch motorists who pass stopped buses, but it didn’t allow the districts or outside vendors to issue citations. At that point, only police could issue them.

A Cobb County pilot program last year, using cameras installed on 102 of the 1,188 buses, caught 871 violators of the law. But because of limits in the law, only warnings were issued that carried no weight.

An amendment to the law last year allowed outside vendors to issue citations.

Similarly, six Connecticut cities and towns—New Britain, West Hartford, Windsor, Wolcott, New Canaan, and Hamden—have entered into contracts with a Rhode Island-based company called SmartBus Live to issue citations to motorists under authority of a new camera-enforcement law passed by the state in 2011.

The law gave towns the option of using the school-bus cameras if their local governing bodies approved, and then entering into a contract according to the state’s guidelines. About a half-dozen states have similar laws.