Crackdown on offense committed by 17m drivers with motorists facing max $300 fines – officials say it’s not a cash grab

A NEW driving safety campaign could see motorists face a $300 fine for non-compliance.

The Stop4MyBus campaign will equip more school buses with cameras to capture people passing the bus when a stop arm has failed.

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According to CBS News New York, this campaign was launched last year in Long Island, New York, and was pushed forward again at the start of the new school year.

If a driver is caught on a bus camera, they could face a fine of up to $300.

The local superintendent of the Middle Country Central School District, Dr. Roberta Gerold, has ensured that the motivation of the program is not financial.

Dr. Gerold said: “It’s not a money grab.

“When children get off buses, they are excited.

“They run to school excitedly, but don’t pay much attention.

“When they come home, they look forward to going back to their homes.”

The campaign was run by the company BusPatrol, an AI-powered school bus safety program.

BusPatrol developed the camera system and says it works with law enforcement through “data collection and video surveillance.”

The cameras are available to schools free of charge and are partly financed by fines collected.

In Suffolk County, BusPatrol receives 45% of the fine revenue and the remaining 55% is used by Suffolk County for school safety programs.

Suffolk County’s 71 school districts have installed the cameras, but some other counties have left it up to individual schools to negotiate contracts.

Nassau County has decided to allow each school to negotiate individually with BusPatrol.

More than half of Nassau County schools have not yet installed the new cameras and it could take until January.

However, Suffolk County has already issued more than 100,000 tickets in its first full year.

BusPatrol claimed school buses stopping to pick up children were illegally pulled over more than 17 million times nationwide this year.

Officials said the program has been a success so far.

A spokesman for BusPatrol, Jason Elan, said: “We have seen a 40 per cent reduction in school bus stop stop arm breaches. This is huge.”

Suffolk County Deputy County Executive John Kaiman added: “Most people who get a ticket get a ticket once.

“They learn and change their behavior. And that is of course the goal.”