"We are missing tens and tens of thousands of these," Rep. David Hale told his colleagues.
Hale, a Republican from Wellington, is reviving a bill he filed two years ago that would allow school districts to install monitoring systems on buses that could be used to catch drivers who speed past as children are getting on or off.
Unlike the previous version of the bill, this one — House Bill 461— would not make the cameras mandatory, due to cost concerns.
Were a district to introduce the camera system, possibly with the help of third party providers, Hale explained what drivers could expect.
"All of the school buses today of course have the stop sign that comes out that we're all familiar with, but now most all of our buses also have that arm in the front off the bumper that swings out, actually causing a child to walk out in a direction so the driver can see them. There would be a camera mounted on that as well, so there would really be two cameras and they would require the license number," he said.
Initial violations would run $500. Subsequent violations would mean a $1000 fine.
Concerns about the bill mostly centered on how the video would be evaluated, with some skeptics hesitant to endorse a system that would send violations first to a code enforcement board. Most districts, however, lack such a board and would send the reports and video to a district court.
