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Bill Paves Way for School Bus Safety Cameras in Virginia
WRIC-TV ABC 8 (Virginia), Feb. 8, 2016

A new piece of legislation in the Virginia General Assembly could help Chesterfield County revisit school bus stop arm safety cameras. The bill would clear an obstacle in the law that prevents citations from being mailed. In a 2015 pilot program, the county school system caught nearly 400 drivers illegally passing stopped school buses. A Senate version of the bill awaits a full Senate vote. (WRIC-TV ABC 8 image) 

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Violations Jump More Than 100% after Tucson Cameras Go Dark
KOLD-TV CBS 13/Tucson News Now (Arizona), Feb. 8, 2016

In November, Tucson residents voted to remove road safety cameras from eight intersections across the city. In the 60 days after cameras went dark, authorities reported a 107 percent increase in red-light violations and a 126 percent increase in speeding violations compared with the same time last year. (KOLD-TV CBS 13/Tucson News Now image)

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Dramatic Video Is Reminder to Pay Attention at Intersections
KAIT-TV ABC/NBC 8 (Missouri), Feb. 10, 2016

New video of a frightening crash is making some people take a second look at an Excelsior Springs intersections. The Excelsior Springs Police Department released video of a crash Tuesday morning. The video shows a car running a red light and clipped by a semi. No one was seriously hurt. (KAIT-TV ABC/NBC 8)

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School Bus Safety Cameras in Austin Enter Ticketing Phase
KTBC-TV FOX 7 (Texas), Feb. 8, 2016

Beginning Monday, more police were out on the road watching for drivers ignoring those flashing stop signs on school buses. Austin Independent School District buses now are equipped with special cameras that catch drivers in the act. See related coverage from KVUE-TV ABC 24. (KTBC-TV FOX 7 image)

 

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Georgia District Latest to Capture Video of Illegal Bus Passers
School Transportation News, Feb. 10, 2016

Fulton County Schools is partnering with American Traffic Solutions to equip certain routes with the CrossingGuard stop-arm technology that automatically detects if a vehicle passes when a bus is at a stop loading or unloading students. Forty school buses began capturing video this week, but stop-arm violators in the greater Atlanta area are granted a one-month reprieve before citations will be mailed. (School Transportation News image)

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Drivers Regularly Break School Bus Safety Laws
Statesboro Herald (Georgia), Feb. 9, 2016

While Monday’s collision between a school bus and a tractor-trailer rig did not involved illegal passing, it calls attention to the fact that a vast number of drivers do not obey laws regarding school bus safety. (Statesboro Herald image by Jim Healy)

School Bus Camera System Rolls Out in Fulton County
Milton Neighbor (Georgia), Feb. 9, 2016

Georgia school bus drivers report more than 1.3 million vehicles making illegal passes by school buses each year, and more likely go unreported, said  R. Sam Ham, Transportation Director for Fulton County Schools. Between 2010 and 2014, Georgia led the nation four out of five years in school bus stop deaths. To help reduce those numbers, the county is partnering with American Traffic Solutions to implement a new stop-arm safety camera system.

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Austin Independent School District Enters Fine Phase
KLBJ-Radio 590 AM (Texas), Feb. 8, 2016

The Austin Independent School District entered the ticketing phase Monday with its school bus stop-arm safety camera program. Those who pass a stopped school bus with its crossing arm extended will be issued a ticket. District Police Chief Eric Mendez said during the previous 30-day warning period, 330 violations were captured by the cameras showing drivers illegally passing stopped school buses.  (KVUE-TV ABC 24 image by Quita Culpepper)

 

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Tampa Mayor Says Work Remains to Be Done to Stop Red-Light Runners
The Tampa Tribune (Florida), Feb. 11, 2016

Red-light running is back on the rise in Tampa, bucking the theory that red-light cameras are changing driver behavior. Almost 60,000 red-light camera tickets were issued in Tampa in 2015, according to data from American Traffic Solutions, the Arizona company that operates the city’s 57 cameras. That’s an increase of almost 44 percent over the previous year. “I think what it shows is we haven’t accomplished our mission yet,” said Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who has long maintained the cameras save lives. “We still have people running red lights; they’re doing it blatantly.” (The Tampa Tribune image by Todd L. Chappel)

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Sarasota Police Seek Car Involved in Deadly Hit-and-Run
WFLA-TV NBC 8 (Florida), Feb. 8, 2016

The Sarasota Police Department has released a red-light camera video along with a request for the public to help identify a car believed to have been involved in a deadly hit-and-run crash with a bicyclist. (WFLA-TV NBC 8 image)

Official Wants Traffic Fines to Go to Crossing Guards
Carroll County Times/The Baltimore Sun (Maryland),  Feb. 9, 2016

Baltimore City Council member Rochelle “Rikki” Spector is calling on the Rawlings-Blake administration to use revenue from the planned revival of the city’s speed and red-light camera system for school crossing guards. “The cameras are supposed to be for safety around schools,” she said. “What could be a better use of the funds?”

 

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Zero_Fatalities_NV @DriveSaveNV The highest number of pedestrian crashes occur at a 35 MPH posted speed limit (28%) http://ow.ly/XTUZr

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SouthFulton_Neighbor @SFultonNeighbor @CityofRoswellGA rolls out school bus camera system, other Fulton cities to follow http://bit.ly/1PzkjM2 @FultonCoSchools @ATS_RoadSafety

 

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New Express Lanes Signal Freeway Revolution
San Francisco Chronicle (California), Feb. 9, 2016

A set of traffic lanes about to open in the East Bay represents a coming revolution in Bay Area freeway travel, affecting the choices drivers make and the gadgets they must carry with them. … With the opening later this month of the I-580 Express Lanes, the concept of tolled carpool lanes is inching closer to the region’s core commute, and it’s about to spread.

New Section of Grand Parkway Opens
KHOU-TV 11 (Texas), Feb. 8, 2016

As the cities of Cypress, Tomball, Spring and The Woodlands have rapidly grown, it’s only grown tougher and more time-consuming to drive between them. But on Monday morning, those cities now have 24 miles of new toll roads connecting them. Some drivers call it “a game changer.”

 

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Letter to the Editor: Red-Light Cameras Protect Safety
Bradenton Herald (Florida), Feb. 11, 2016

I am writing in support of keeping the red-light cameras at the various intersections in Florida. Not only do I support them, I would agree that more be installed. There were two men killed on Feb. 3 after they ran the red light and plowed into a trailer truck. … If drivers think the cameras are causing rear-end crashes, then they were driving too close and that is also against the law.

Letter: Expand Use of Red-Light Cameras
Bradenton Herald (Florida), Feb. 10, 2016

When I came to my present address 23 years ago, State Road 70 from Interstate 75 to Bradenton was two lanes with little traffic. Today it is four to six lanes plus dedicated lanes for turns. It often takes 45 or more minutes to travel the five or six miles of SR 70. When you quote statistics that seem to indicate a higher percentage of accidents due to red-light cameras, do you factor in the increased traffic? The increased frustration and impatience of the drivers? The red-light cameras are not causing the accidents; overdevelopment is a major contributor.

Letter: Leave Red-Light Cameras Alone
Ocala Star Banner (Florida), Feb. 8, 2016

Your Feb. 5 issue of Ocala Star-Banner had an article called, “Bill would put a stop to red light cameras.” In my opinion that would be a mistake. I see people run red lights often. There simply are not enough police officers to monitor all the red lights or even the trouble spots where it occurs very often. And, in the presence of law enforcement, those who would be inclined to run red lights simply wouldn’t at that time.

 

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“Some of these are just blatant passes of the bus. It’s only a matter of time before a student is struck and we don’t want that to happen.”
Eric Mendez, Austin Independent School District Police Chief
KLBJ-Radio 590 AM (Texas), Feb. 8, 2016