Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Dallas County Schools, the school bus company that takes thousands of DISD students to and from school each day, is releasing video each day this week of what it calls its “Hall of Shame” offenders when it comes to unsafe driving near school buses.
The law requires all drivers to stop for school buses on both sides of the street when stop arms are lowered unless there is a median.
On Tuesday, Dallas County Schools released video automobiles and a DART bus disregard that part of the law just seconds before children cross the street.
“We all know how impactful video is in telling a story,” said Larry Duncan, Board President, Dallas County Schools. “We have external and internal cameras on all of our buses and it has prevented a lot of incidents and is also quite useful in proving when any bad behavior has occurred. The camera doesn’t lie.”
DCS said it cites drivers running stop-arm cameras at least 400 times a day in Dallas County. The company said school bus stop arm cameras in Dallas have reduced violations by 35 percent but more must be done.
DART spokesperson Morgan Lyons issued this statement after DART reviewed the video Tuesday:
The actions we saw are unacceptable. We thanked Dallas County Schools for sharing the video with us. We’re using it as a training opportunity for our operators, reminding them of their responsibilities when operating near school buses and in school zones. We’ve also reminded our operators they are responsible for any fines they might incur for these safety violations and that the safety violations are counted against their DART driving record.
During National School Bus Safety Week, DPS troopers in many areas will be riding on or following school buses to catch motorists who break the law. Troopers will also be patrolling areas where school buses pick up and drop off students, looking for motorists violating the school bus law. Drivers who violate the law could face fines as much as $1,250. A stop-arm citation is $300.
(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
