JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County Public Schools is rolling out new technology aimed at cracking down on dangerous drivers who ignore stopped school buses.
District leaders unveiled stop arm cameras, now installed on 900 buses across Duval County. The cameras, developed in partnership with BusPatrol America, are designed to capture drivers who illegally pass buses while students are getting on or off.
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The system uses cameras that work together, capturing a vehicle’s make, model, and license plate, while the others record the alleged violation. While the technology is powered by artificial intelligence, AI will not decide who receives a citation.
That decision will still be made by Duval County School Police, who review each incident to determine whether a violation occurred.
“We’re just kind of recording the alleged violation, but we’re not playing a discretionary role about who gets cited and who doesn’t,” said Steve Randazzo with BusPatrol America. “That’s always reserved for law enforcement only.”
The district says there will be a 30-day public awareness period before enforcement begins. During that time, drivers who violate the law will receive warnings instead of citations.
Starting May 1st, drivers caught passing a stopped school bus could face a $225 fine.
The program comes as the district continues to track student safety incidents involving vehicles. Last year, more than 40 Duval County students were struck by cars, including three who died. So far this year, that number stands at 25, with two fatalities.
District leaders say they hope the cameras will help bring those numbers down.
The program also comes at no upfront cost to the district. Instead, it operates under a revenue-sharing agreement with BusPatrol.
“This is a 50/50 revenue split with the vendor,” said Chief Operations Officer Jim Culbert. “BusPatrol gets 50 percent of it, and then the district gets 50 percent of all the fines that are issued. There’s no cost to the district whatsoever. We put no money up front for this.”
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