FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville and Farmington are two of 21 school districts in the state scheduled to receive a new camera system for one of their school buses under a new pilot program from the Arkansas Department of Education.
Fayetteville Director of Transportation Tommy Davenport said the cameras - which will be mounted on the exteriors of the buses - aredesigned to help identify vehicles that pass a school bus when it has stopped to load or unload students.
"The grant pays for the camera recording system, and it pays for two cameras," Davenport said.
One camera will be in the front, and the other will be on the back of the bus.
Davenport said the grant provides funds to equip one bus per district.
"It's a camera mountedforward and backward on the bus," Farmington Transportation Director Jim Hendrix said.
The plan is that once the camera is installed, footage of violators will be turned over to the prosecuting attorney's office, and the office will have better evidence to pursue charges, Davenport said.
Bus drivers are supposed to take note of the vehicles that fail to stop for the bus and report them to law enforcement. As a practical matter, the driver has little time to get a good look at vehicles that pass and provide authorities with much identifying information, Davenport said.
"Cars pass so fast," he said.
"It happens so fast, and most of the time, we're watching kids on the bus," Hendrix said.
It is hard for a driver to get the make and model of the car, color, a license plate or a good description of the driver, he added.
"We don't want a child hit. That's what it's all about," Davenport said.
Hendrix said he spoke with the company that will be installing the cameras on Tuesday and they indicated the cameras will be installed on buses in this area during the thirdweek of October.
Davenport said he is considering putting the camera on one of the special education buses that makes stops along Wedington Drive, which he described as a frequent problem area. Drivers do not always stop on both sides of the road when the red lights are flashing.
People should know that drivers are required to stop for school buses in all lanes of traffic when its red lights are flashing, Davenport said.
"Everyone is required to stop unless there is a median, like I-540," Davenport said. "If the bus is stopped with the red lights flashing, traffic hasto stop in all directions."
Hendrix said a frequent problem area in Farmington is U.S. 62. Like much Wedington Drive, it is also a five-lane road.
Some drivers appear to treat the center left-turn lane like a median.
"That's not the case," Hendrix said.
Hendrix said he will probably have the camera installed on a middle school or high school bus that has stops along U.S. 62.
"We have several stops along the highway," Hendrix said.
Although it is a small district geographically, with only 33 square miles, Farmington operates 23 bus routes, Hendrix said.
News, Pages 1, 5 on 09/30/2009