School Bus 'Stop Arm' Cameras Could Come Soon to Prince George's

Prince George's County police may soon have a new tool to catch motorists who overtake school buses as they take on and unload students at bus stops. 

Yesterday, the Prince George's County Council Health, Education and Human Services Committee unanimously approved a bill which would allow county school and law enforcement officials to install automated cameras which snap photos of motorists who illegally pass stopped school buses. 

"We're not looking to generate revenue from this," said Maj. Robert Liberati, of the Prince George's County Police Department. "There aren't enough violations. We look at this simply as a public safety matter."

Called "stop arm cameras", the devices would only be active when the school bus driver has deployed the familiar stop signals which alert other drivers that students are disembarking the bus. Last year, the Maryland General Assembly passed a law allowing local governments to install stop arm cameras on their school buses. Similar systems are already in use in Montgomery County and Anne Arundel County. 

On one day each year, bus drivers with the county school system participate in a nationwide survey to count the number of times motorists illegally pass stopped school buses. In 2011, county bus drivers reported more than 700 such infractions in a single day. Last year, the number was down significantly, at a little more than 200, according to county police.

The bill, which now heads to the Prince George's County Council for consideration, would allow county officials to install up to 20 of the stop arm cameras on county school buses as part of a pilot program to evaluate the technology. In a school system with more than 1,200 buses, that might not sound like a lot. County police and school officials said they were still exploring how to best use a limited number of stop arm cameras across the entire county. 

Under the proposed bill, violators nabbed by the cameras would face a $150 fine. This is less than the maximum fine, $250, which state law allows to be levied against motorists who illegally pass school buses with stop arms deployed. The revenue from each fine would be split between the county police department and whichever company ends up securing the contract to install and operate the cameras. The exact split is still to be determined, as bids for the contract which includes the 20 stop arm cameras have not yet been reviewed by county officials. 

According to Liberati, the proposed $150 fine was arrived at after they learned that Montgomery County's stop arm camera tickets, which carry the maximum $250 fine, were being contested in court more often than infractions recorded by other automated traffic enforcement devices like speed cameras. The belief, said Liberati, is that the high price of Montgomery County's stop arm fine was providing an increased economic incentive for ticketed motorists to try and have the fine reduced in court. For police, that's bad, because anytime a stop arm camera (or speed camera or red light camera) ticket is contested in court in Maryland, any fines collected go to the county court system instead of the county police department.

In Maryland, motorists are not allowed to pass any school bus which has deployed its stop arms. The only exception is for traffic in opposing lanes when a physical median is present in the roadway separating the travel lanes.