(WKYT) – A new law signed by Gov. Andy Beshear this week targets drivers who pass stopped school buses.
Starting in July, House Bill 7 will allow school districts to opt in to putting monitoring cameras in their buses. Those cameras would capture license plate numbers and report them to authorities.
“I think it was a very needed piece of legislation that’s going to hopefully help protect our most vulnerable children and that’s our children who ride the school buses each and every day,” said Rep. David Hale.
The bill sponsored by Hale will allow school districts to opt into installing camera monitoring systems on their buses. Hale said those who opt in will work with technology vendors to install and oversee the cameras.
“There are companies of course with all of the AI and all of the high technology now that they can immediately see these violations,” Hale said.
Once a vendor flags a violation, the video and plate information would be sent to the local police department. Officers would review it and issue the citation.
In Richmond, Police Chief Rodney Richardson said people not stopping for school bus stop arms is a problem they have had to deal with in the past.
Richardson has not seen the full bill, but he believes camera enforcement could help police hold drivers accountable and keep kids safer getting on and off the bus.
“Oh definitely, I think it would be amazing. It would give us 24/7 access to violators,” Richardson said.
Richardson added that while he hopes it would be common knowledge, they do try to educate drivers that not stopping for a school bus is illegal.
“The stop sign is there because kids are loading and unloading, so they are crossing the street in front of the school bus. If they are passing that school bus on either side, there is a potential that they could strike a kid,” Hale said.