Broome County Executive Jason Garnar said Monday that Broome County has become the first county in the state to participate in the School Bus Stop-Arm Camera Program. Monday starts the Warning Period for violators and then on June 24 enforcement will begin, at which point offenders will be issued a “Notice of Liability” that carries a $250 fine.
Broome County has started a County-wide School Bus stop arm camera program through coordination with participating School Districts and other governmental agencies.
The goal of the program is to effectively reduce the illegal passing of a stopped school bus through training and educational campaigns, along with video equipment that activates while the stop arm is extended, and red lights are actively flashing. School bus stop arm safety cameras are a proven deterrent to stop arm passing, and it is an important step in making sure our children arrive to and from school safely.
A total of 342 school bus safety cameras will be installed on County buses. The following schools will be equipped with school bus stop-arm safety cameras participating in the School Bus Safety Program with more to come:
• Binghamton City School District
• Chenango Forks School District
• Chenango Valley School District
• Harpursville School District
• Johnson City School District
• Maine-Endwell School District
• Marathon City School District
• Susquehanna Valley School District
• Union-Endicott School District
• Whitney Point School District
• Windsor School District
Safety At Work
The School Bus Stop-Arm Safety Program equips Broome County’s school bus fleets with state-of-the-art stop-arm safety technology including stop-arm cameras, DVR and storage devices, internal cameras, GPS, telemetry and LTE connectivity.
Each school bus has an automated camera system that is activated when a school bus is stopped, and its lights and stop-arm are engaged. Multiple cameras capture incidents involving vehicles illegally passing the bus. Violation enforcement is completed utilizing a video evidentiary system which is screened by local law enforcement.
