DeKalb County Schools is planning to add stop‑arm cameras to more than 1,000 district buses in an effort to deter drivers from illegally passing school buses. The buses already carry interior cameras, but the new external units would capture what happens outside, according to CBS Atlanta.
The district’s transportation director, Bernando Brown, said the goal is to protect every student at all times by providing safe, reliable transportation. The proposed cameras would feature multi‑angle video, license‑plate recognition, GPS tagging and automatic activation. Data would be transmitted directly to law enforcement.
Brown explained that the camera would be mounted on the side of the bus, below the stop arm, and would only record vehicles that pass the bus. A survey by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association found that 46 percent of children on school buses have experienced a close call with a dangerous driver, and 53 percent of parents believe motorists continue to pass because they think they will not be caught. Georgia officials estimate that illegal passing occurs over 9,000 times a day.
In Georgia, the penalty for passing a school bus starts at $1,000. DeKalb County hopes to have the cameras installed by January, with the data automatically shared with law enforcement to enforce the state’s strict passing regulations.
