Gov. Roy Cooper was in Greenville yesterday, to sign a new state school bus law. The new law allows counties to adopt ordinances and cite motorists by using cameras installed on the stop-arms of buses. Jared Brumbaugh has more.
The penalty for passing a stopped school bus is a Class 1 misdemeanor and 5 points on your license. Under the new law, counties can now impose civil penalties; $400 for a first offense, $750 for the second violation and a thousand dollars for each subsequent violation. The new law also allows local school boards to install cameras on school buses to cite drivers. Some schools in eastern North Carolina already have cameras. Public Information Officer Suzie Ulbrich with Onslow County Schools says they have 28.
"When we see an increase in violations, we'll move a camera on to that particular buses in those areas. We can move them around and we also make sure that we let the Highway Patrol know and they'll help us with either riding the bus or being in that area during those particular times."
Craven County Schools has four buses with cameras and Lenoir County Schools has 30. Ulbrich hopes the new law will help prevent accidents like the one that occurred earlier this year when a Jacksonville high school student was killed by a driver who failed to stop for a school bus. I’m Jared Brumbaugh.
