Survey: Ticketing drivers going around school buses might not have huge impact

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — Oklahoma law is about to change to allow law enforcement to use video from a school bus to ticket drivers who pass illegally, but a similar program elsewhere shows ticketing drivers is not having much of an impact.

A 2019 survey of a single day in Oklahoma showed school bus drivers reported 419 cars passed their buses illegally, according to a National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services Survey.

Austin Independent School District buses have had the camera system since 2016. The district uses a vendor, which paid for, installed and runs the cameras at no out of pocket cost to the client.

Since launching the program, Austin ISD police have issued more than 53,600 civil citations for illegally passing a school bus. Each $300 citation is mailed to the owner of the vehicle, who then has the chance to appeal.

School bus passing violations have raised $10.8 million dollars in revenue, though most of the money goes to the camera vendor.

The hope was that making drivers aware of the cameras and issuing citations would make it safer for students, but the numbers have not dropped like the district had hoped.

“We’ve had a high volume of tickets given out. Honestly, it’s something that is continuing to be an issue. Unfortunately, the numbers have been consistently high for violators,” says Mike Rios, Austin ISD’s Assistant Transportation Director.

“We put (video of violators) out through our local media outlets, social media, yet we don’t see a decrease in citations,” says Austin ISD police Lt. Gus Berrera. “I think what’s happening is we live in a society where everybody is in a hurry. We have too many distractions inside the vehicle– radio, iPod, cell phone.”

There’s hope in Oklahoma that cameras will make a difference.

Rep. Dell Kerbs, a former school bus driver, wrote the bill passed by the Oklahoma legislature this year so violators would receive a criminal ticket in the mail if law enforcement reviews the bus footage and finds the law was broken. The ticket will include an additional $100 fine that will help districts pay for camera equipment.

To ticket a driver, officers would need to confirm a traffic law was violated, the vehicle registration and confirm the identity of the driver.

“The technology was already there but we were handicapping or handcuffing our law enforcement and not being able to write those citations the way they needed to be done,” says Kerbs.

The law changes on Nov. 1, but several school district leaders, including Oklahoma City, Moore, Edmond, Yukon and Deer Creek say they have no concrete plans right now to install exterior school bus camera systems.

You can let us know what you think by using the hashtag #Brake4Buses.