70 School Bus Violations At Montco District In 3 Weeks: Police

UPPER MORELAND, PA — Local police say that a recently launched bus safety initiative in this eastern Montgomery County community has netted numerous driver violations in just a short period of time.

The Upper Moreland Police Department said its traffic unit has already approved more than 70 violations for evading stopped school buses, and the number of citations comes not even three weeks after the program's launch.

"In just three short weeks, 70 operators have disregarded the safety of our children," police wrote in a community alert. "These violations are not only on our major roadways like Easton Road and York Road — they also occur in your neighborhoods and streets."

The Upper Moreland School District recently launched its bus safety initiative designed to capture camera images of those violators who willfully flout the stop-arm camera program.

The cameras record vehicles that "dangerously and illegally" pass school buses when they are stopped to load or unload children, police stated.

The videos get vetted by local police after being forwarded from the school district.

Registered owners of vehicles caught evading stopped school buses face a $300 fine.

Police called the behavior of drivers who purposefully go around stopped school buses with flashing lights activated "shocking," and said this type of behavior has, sadly, become "all too typical on our roadways."

Police said that with each violation, "the chance of a tragedy occurring grows."

"The Upper Moreland Police Department and the Upper Moreland School District asks you to drive carefully and without distractions," police stated in their message. "Talk to your teenager drivers about the consequences of speed, distracted driving and passing school buses when stopped. There is no text, phone call or appointment that is worth a child's safety."

Other school districts in and around Montgomery County have instituted similar camera programs on their school bus fleet.