ATLANTA — Gwinnett County Public Schools buses are prepared to hit the road again, many of them armed with cameras armed to capture the thousands of people who passes stopped buses illegally each year.
Reshma Malali, a parent in the district, was shocked when a driver passed the flashing lights and stop arm on her child’s bus just as the 3rd grader was preparing to step onto the street.
“It was at a high speed when it passed by,” Malali said. “The bus driver honked. It was scary.”
Raw numbers make it appear that there are fewer violators, but GCPS police say that the COVID-19 pandemic has skewed the numbers somewhat.
Only a fraction of Gwinnett County’s buses are armed with cameras to catch violators, and yet the evidence collected resulted in over 14,000 citations in 2019. The numbers dipped as many students stayed home at the start of the pandemic but are rising again with over 9,000 citations issued last year.
Cecilia Horton has been driving a school bus for fifteen years. She’s seen instances where the same driver passes the flashing lights of her bus time and time again.
“These are your kids we’re delivering, not ours,” Horton said.
GCPS police hear all kinds of excuses.
“Number one is that they didn’t see the bus,” Gwinnett Schools spokesperson Jack Moody said. “But we do have violators who purposely drive around the bus.”
One driver was caught on camera passing two stopped cars then a bus with lights that have been flashing for more than 20 seconds. There’s another driver that was caught driving up on the sidewalk to pass a stopped school bus.
Celia Horton says maybe it’s time to increase the $250 fine.
“I think it’s people that just don’t care,” she said.
Moody said there are fewer repeat offenders. He adds drivers should treat the flashing lights of a bus like a traffic light — flashing yellow means prepare to stop, flashing red means stop.