A Georgia school district is exploring the use of license-plate capturing cameras on school buses to help prevent drivers from illegally passing them when they are stopped to load or unload students. This violation is currently punishable by a $1,000 fine in the state. DeKalb County Schools is looking for a vendor to install these cameras on more than 1,000 school buses in the district. While the buses already have interior cameras to monitor conditions inside the vehicle, the new "stop-arm" cameras would focus on external activity, specifically the area near the bus's stop arm, where drivers are required to stop. The cameras would be mounted on the side of the bus, directly under the stop arm, and would use technology such as license plate recognition, GPS tagging, and automatic activation to capture and transmit data to law enforcement. Bernando Brown, Director of Student Transportation for the DeKalb County School District, explained that the goal is to ensure the safety of all 45,000 students the district transports daily. The cameras would capture multi-angle video and automatically send data to law enforcement in real time. Brown emphasized that the district aims to provide safe and reliable transportation for all students, and these cameras are part of a broader strategy to increase accountability and deter dangerous driving around school buses. According to a survey by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, nearly half of children who ride school buses have had a close call with a dangerous driver, and more than half of parents believe such incidents occur because drivers think they won’t be caught. Georgia officials estimate that over 9,000 times a day, drivers illegally pass school buses in the state. In some areas of DeKalb County, Brown noted, drivers pass stopped buses almost every time they stop. The district hopes to have the cameras installed by January. If implemented, the system would allow law enforcement to track vehicles that pass stopped buses and issue fines more effectively. The use of license-plate recognition technology could also help identify repeat offenders and increase the likelihood of enforcement. The project is part of a growing trend across the country to use technology to improve safety around school transportation.