SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FL – The school district is cracking down on drivers who illegally pass school buses by joining forces with the Child Safety Program powered by AngelTrax, a name you can trust (Child Safety Program), an all-in-one automated stop arm violation system—from violation detection to citation through adjudication.
Travis Fulton, Director of Purchasing and Contract Management, said, “We are very excited to start the Child Safety Program in collaboration with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office and AngelTrax to increase the safety of our students by changing driver behavior around our community through the camera enforcement of our bus stop-arm cameras.”
According to statistics from the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), 95,000 stop arm violations were reported in a single day and 17 million in a single school year.
“AngelTrax will be using the latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to detect a vehicle passing a school bus while the stop arm is out. If a vehicle overtakes the bus while the stop arm is out, the system will automatically download video of the incident to our data center where our trained technicians will review the video. If the incident appears to meet the requirements for a violation under Florida code, it will then be passed to an authorized law enforcement agent for confirmation. If the incident is confirmed as a violation, a citation will be issued by mail to the registered owner of the vehicle,” explained AngelTrax President and CEO Richie Howard.
“The law is very clear in the state of Florida. It is illegal to overtake a school bus while students are loading and unloading,” Howard said. “Unfortunately, the law itself does not deter many people from violating the law, thus putting our students at risk of being injured or even killed. The only proven method of changing driver behavior is the issuance of a citation.
2023 Florida Statutes 316.172 (1)(a) Traffic to stop for school bus:
Any person using, operating, or driving a vehicle on or over the roads or highways of this state shall, upon approaching any school bus which displays a stop signal, bring such vehicle to a full stop while the bus is stopped, and the vehicle shall not pass the school bus until the signal has been withdrawn. A person who violates this section commits a moving violation, punishable as provided in chapter 318.
A national study shows 98 percent of those persons receiving a citation never get a second citation. The civil penalty in Santa Rosa County for passing a school bus while loading and unloading is $225. The only alternative to paying the fine is to stand trial in civil court for the alleged violation. Collected fines will be used to increase the safe transportation of students. Additionally, collected fines will be used for maintenance of the detection systems and the administrative costs associated with the enforcement of the violations. Our goal is to make our kids as safe as possible while loading and unloading from the school bus. This program will support that effort.”
AngelTrax Vice President of Operations Katherine Tolar added, “The heart of the program is to partner with communities to bring awareness to this epidemic and to create change.”
Santa Rosa County District Schools has now initiated a public awareness/warning campaign, and during this campaign, the Child Safety Program will issue warnings. The Child Safety Program officially launches in Santa Rosa County March 4, 2024, and citations should be expected in the mail within two weeks of each violation. Drivers cited through the Child Safety Program will face a $225 fine for each offense. Citation recipients can visit https://www.childsafetyprogram.us to pay the fine or to view evidence supporting the citation, including high-resolution images and video of the violation. If you wish to contest the citation, please follow the instructions provided on your citation to request a court hearing and/or complete and submit an affidavit.
