Every year, drivers ignoring or going through school buses’ stop arms is a continued concern for school officials and law enforcement. From 2017-2021, law enforcement has cited 4,652 drivers for stop-arm violations, and the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services observed 1,003 stop-arm violations in a single day in Minnesota during their 2022 annual illegal passing survey.
To help law enforcement cite those that run stop-arm violations, the Crookston School District and its Transportation Department have applied for the Stop-Arm Camera Grant from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and are waiting for official approval of it in March.
“What it does is it puts two cameras on the side of the bus, so if a vehicle were to run through the stop arm when it is extended, whether they come from behind or in front,” Crookston Schools Transportation Director Rick Niemela explained. “It’ll focus so that it picks up the license plates off of the vehicle so the bus drivers can turn that into the law enforcement so they can proceed with their part of the enforcement.”
The cameras will be mounted on the side of the bus behind its Stop Arm to get the best view of the traffic that passes the bus while it’s stopped.
The grant and camera system will be an excellent tool for bus drivers to help law enforcement with this issue, as bus drivers would have to try and memorize license plates or descriptions of the passing car for law enforcement when they wished to report a citation.
“In the past, you’re at the mercy of what you see as a bus driver trying to get that license plate number as the car goes by you, and you don’t always get it correct,” said Niemela. “This’ll give you more of an accurate description, you’ll see the color of the car, and probably even the face of the driver too, along with your license plate, so it’ll give you a better chance of giving out more tickets.”
Any vehicle that passes a bus while it is stopped with the Stop Arm extended is subject to a fine of up to $500. The School District hopes that the grant and citations that happen with the cameras will spread the word around the city about being safer around stopped school buses.
“It’s up to a $500 fine for going through a stop arm, according to the Driver’s Ed manual, so it is really important that people understand that when you see the lights flashing on top of the bus flashing yellow, that’s warning you that they’re 100 feet before a stop in town or 300 feet before a stop in the country,” Highland Elementary School Principal and bus driver Chris Trostad explained. “When the red lights flash on the top and back of the bus and on the stop arm, you are required by law to stop no closer than 20 feet from the front or behind the bus and wait for those lights to stop flashing to pass the bus. So, if you pass the bus while the lights are flashing, the bus driver will radio the Transportation Director with your license plate, and he will call the police department, and they will fine you up to $500 for going through the red flashing lights.”
Stay tuned to KROX and kroxam.com for updates on the grant and other Crookston Public School District news.
