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Driver’s Dangerous Maneuver at School Bus Is One Among Many
WPEC-TV CBS 12 (Florida), Sept. 30, 2015

A South Florida high school student waiting for her bus early Wednesday morning is nearly run over when a speeding car flew by her stopped school bus. “I could have died. I didn’t really think about that,” the student said. … These types of close calls are not uncommon in Palm Beach County. Records from the Clerk’s Office show law enforcement across the county cited 252 drivers since last August for failing to stop for school buses. (WPEC-TV CBS 12 image)

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Austin Approves School Bus Safety Cameras from ATS
KVUE-TV ABC 24 (Texas), Sept. 30, 2015

Whether it’s a residential area or a busier part of town, Austin drivers just can’t seem to stop for school buses. … But that trend may change after an Austin Independent School District announcement made Monday. The school board approved American Traffic Solutions as its school bus stop arm safety camera provider. (KVUE-TV ABC 24 image)

 

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Driver Passes Stopped School Bus Alongside Entry Door
CNYCentral.com (New York), Sept. 29, 2015

Authorities in Central Square are looking for the driver of a truck who passed a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing Monday afternoon. The truck blew past the bus on the shoulder of the road. (CNYCentral.com)

School Bus Driver Alerts Students to Danger
Elkin Tribune (North Carolina), Sept. 30, 2015

In the first month of the new school year, an Elkin City Schools bus driver was able to prevent a near tragedy when a motorist passed a stopped school bus. Two students waiting to get on the bus did not see the approaching vehicle and were getting ready to cross the road. The bus driver noticed an oncoming car was not going to stop and pressed the horn to alert the students. The bus happened to be one of six installed with stop-arm video cameras, which are used to identify school bus passing offenders.

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Austin Upgrades School Buses with Stop-Arm Safety Cameras
KXAN-TV NBC 21 (Texas), Sept. 29, 2015

The Austin Independent School District bus fleet of 500 buses is getting various safety upgrades, including school bus stop arm safety cameras from American Traffic Solutions. AISD decided to move forward with American Traffic Solutions, which currently provides services for Georgetown ISD, after testing various stop-arm camera services over the past year on 30 buses. The district will be adding the cameras to 300 regular buses first. (KVUE-TV ABC 24 image)

 

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Columbia Seeks Return of Red-Light Safety Cameras
KBIA-Radio 91.3 FM (Missouri), Oct. 1, 2015

The city of Columbia is moving back toward using red-light cameras. Previously, the city had used cameras from 2009 to 2013, but stopped because of unclear court rulings surrounding their use. Last month, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled the use of red-light cameras was constitutional, which prompted the city to look back into installing cameras at various intersections. (Arnold Patch image by Doug Miner)

TV Camera Catches School Buses Running Red Lights
WBBH-TV NBC 2 (Florida), Sept. 29, 2015

Video captured by NBC2 cameras shows Lee County School District buses blowing through red lights. For one week, we sat at the intersection of Six Mile Cypress and Michael G. Rippe Parkway after someone told us they spotted buses blatantly blowing through red lights. Sure enough, with children on board, the buses would come from South Fort Myers High School and roll right through.

Chandler Renews Red-Light Camera Program, Signs with ATS
The Arizona Republic, Sept. 28, 2015

The Chandler City Council voted 5-2 last week to award a $2.5 million contract to American Traffic Solutions for photo enforcement services from 2016 to 2021. See related coverage from KVOA-TV NBC 4.

Bakersfield Adds to Red-Light Camera Program
KERO-TV ABC 23 (California), Sept. 29, 2015

It’s been 10 years since new intersections were added to the Bakersfield Police Department’s photo enforcement program.  Now the city is expanding the program by adding cameras to the intersection of Stockdale Highway and Coffee Road. Currently, the program operates at eight intersections.

Residents Want Red Light at Scene of Car-Child Collision
WPEC-TV CBS 12 (Florida), Sept. 26, 2015

A West Palm Beach girl remained hospitalized after she was hit by a car last week, crossing the street to get to her school bus stop. Neighbors say they don’t want to see another crash like the one that injured her. … They say they want a traffic light at the intersections before someone gets killed. This crash makes three in three days, including a speeding driver who crashed into a wall and another car ending up in a lake.

 

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Police to Start Issuing Citations at New School Camera Zones
Kent Reporter (Washington), Sept. 29, 2015

Starting Thursday, Oct. 1, Kent Police will send traffic citations to the owners of vehicles caught speeding through the photo-enforced school zones at Meridian and Millennium elementary schools. … Indicating the size of the problem, 236 warning notices were issued between Sept. 1-24 at the two schools. (Kent Reporter image)

 

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Bill Proposing Work Zone Speed Cameras Advances
WPMT-TV FOX 43 (Pennsylvania), Sept. 29, 2015

A bipartisan proposal that would create a five-year pilot program to place automated speed enforcement systems in active work zones won the unanimous approval of the Senate Transportation Committee. Senate Bill 840 is sponsored by Senators David G. Argall and Judy Schwank.

 

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ATS_RoadSafety @ATSRoad_Safety New focus this year on school bus stop arm violators http://www.charlotteobserver.com/… #SchoolBusCameras #StopArmSafety

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ATS_RoadSafety @ATSRoad_Safety @cityofchandler officials OK red-light traffic cameras through 20201 http://www.kvoa.com/story/30138628 #StopOnRed @ChandlerPolice

 

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Highway 101 Toll Lanes Possible for Marin
Marin Independent Journal (California), Sept. 30, 2015

A plan for toll lanes on Highway 101 in Marin to move drivers along faster — for a price — is still a possibility for the county. The toll lane — also known as “express lane” — concept invites solo drivers to pay to use carpool lanes. That money could be used to finance local transportation projects. … The plan is backed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission — the Bay Area’s transportation planning agency. (Marin Independent Journal image by Frankie Frost)

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Tollway Driving More Growth to Northwest Houston
Houston Chronicle (Texas), Sept. 29, 2015

The Tomball Tollway is picking up speed, with more drivers using the 6.7-mile roadway each month. And because it is all-electronic, the tollway is already saving Harris County money and improving safety, according to the Harris County Toll Road Authority. (Houston Chronicle image by freelancer David Hopper)

 

Header QuoteOfTheWeek 480

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“Drivers need to be vigilant of their speed in school zones because children can dart into traffic and surprise a motorist at any moment. Police will use the speed cameras as an enforcement tool to establish and maintain a safe environment for kids walking to and from school.”
Ken Thomas, Police Chief, Kent City Police Department
Kent Reporter (Washington), Sept. 29, 2015

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“This is a program to help the safety of citizens in a place where we could have some of the worst accidents and loss of lives and severe bodily injury to people who are unknowingly hit by red-light runners, and there are a lot of stories about red-light runners.”
Jay Tibshraeny, Mayor of Chandler, Arizona
The Arizona Republic, Sept. 29, 2015

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“Over 3,000 times per day a car in North Carolina illegally passes a school bus that is stopped to load or unload students. Motorists must pay more attention.”
Derek Graham, Section Chief for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction Transportation Services
The Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), Sept. 25, 2015

 

Header Statistics 480

Florida
Palatka Interim Police Chief James Griffith said despite claims of red-light cameras causing accidents, in five of the city’s six locations with red-light safety cameras, crashes have decreased, even though crashes in and near those intersections weren’t necessarily in the same direction the camera faced. Source: Palatka Daily News, Sept. 29, 2015.

Washington
From January 2014 through July 2015, authorities in Kent filed with the municipal court 12,578 tickets from school zone speed safety cameras at two schools. Police will spend the money collected from fines on city jail renovations, police overtime costs, a use-of-force training simulator and traffic safety equipment. Source: Kent Reporter, Sept.  29, 2015.