City of White Plains Launches School Bus Safety Program with BusPatrol to Protect Students

Just in time for back-to-school, the City of White Plains has partnered with the White Plains City School District and safety technology company BusPatrol to launch a new school bus safety program that will help protect children on their way to and from school. The initiative is designed to prevent the dangerous and illegal motorist behavior of passing stopped school buses. Starting September 4, more than 100 school buses in the district will be outfitted with AI-powered stoparm safety cameras from BusPatrol. From that date, the program will begin with a 30-day warning period during which vehicle owners who illegally pass stopped school buses will receive warning letters but no fines. On October 6, live enforcement will begin, with violators subject to a minimum $250 civil penalty under New York law. Each potential violation is reviewed and approved by trained City staff before a citation is issued.

White Plains is the latest community in the region to adopt BusPatrol's safety technology. Last school year, Westchester County launched a countywide program which has gained the participation of nearly two dozen county school districts. BusPatrol also partners with Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Dutchess counties on countywide school bus safety programs. Today, approximately 14,000 school busses across New York State are equipped with BusPatrol technology. Data shows that the vast majority of drivers who receive a violation do not reoffend-fewer than 5% of violators are repeat offenders-demonstrating the program's effectiveness in changing behavior and improving safety for children. Each day in New York, school buses are illegally passed an estimated 50,000 times, according to the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee. These violations can have tragic consequences, but communities that adopt this technology are seeing real progress toward safer roads for students. For more information, please visit https://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/1065/Photo-Enforced-TrafficLaws.