ALBANY, N.Y. -- For the past several years, some senators have been pushing a bill to help protect schoolchildren. They hope this is the year it finally passes.

Advocates gathered Tuesday to support a measure that would allow cameras to be installed on school buses. It's estimated that in New York, nearly 50,000 motorists illegally pass buses daily.

“These cars zoom past, but without a stop arm camera, the identity of the driver often times is not known,” said Catharine Young, a state senator from Olean.

Those cameras would help ticket motorists who drive around a bus when it is stopped in the roadway.

To Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, it's a common sense proposal.

"You know, we have such an emphasis on protecting our schools, on protecting our most valuable resource, which are our children,” said Apple, “you'd think maybe we should start when the kids are trying to get on the bus. I think this is a ground ball."

If passed, schools wouldn't be required to install the cameras.