MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) – Montgomery County Public Schools and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office will be partnering with BusPatrol for safer commutes as drivers illegally pass school buses.
Drivers who illegally pass school busses will receive summons by the Sheriff’s Office as BusPatrol has installed cameras and AI software on MCPS buses to record when school bus lights are flashing with the sign displayed.
Drivers who receive a summon will either receive a fine or an option to request a court date. Summons are processed by BusPatrol and then validated by the Sheriff’s Office before they are sent out to those who were in violation.
“The safety of our students and staff is our top priority as a school district,” MCPS Superintendent Dr. Bernard F. Bragen, Jr. said. “We want to ensure that our students are safe on their way to and from school every day.”
“We want every child to feel safe when they board or exit a bus,” Sheriff Hank Partin said. “Passing a stopped school bus has been a law for years, unfortunately, many drivers fail to stop, putting kids at risk of serious injury or death.”
MCPS and MCSO hope to initiate the technology in February of 2025.
According to the Virginia Code 46.2-859: A person driving a motor vehicle shall stop such vehicle when approaching, from any direction, any school bus which is stopped on any highway, private road or school driveway for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, elderly individuals, or individuals with mental or physical disabilities, and shall remain stopped until all the individuals are clear of the highway, private road or school driveway and the bus is put in motion; any individual violating the foregoing is guilty of reckless driving. The driver of a vehicle, however, need not stop when approaching a school bus if the school bus is stopped on the other roadway of a divided highway, on an access road, or on a driveway when the other roadway, access road, or driveway is separated from the roadway on which he is driving by a physical barrier or an unpaved area.
Click here to read the full code.