The Niagara Falls City School District hopes newly installed technology on their school buses will keep students safe when traveling to and from school.

The district is the first in upstate New York to use state-of-the-art cameras to catch drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses. The district’s president Robert Restaino said statistics show nearly 13 million drivers across the country will not stop for school buses.

“This has got to stop,” said Niagara Falls City School District Superintendent Mark Laurrie.

The new cameras have been installed on two buses in the district. Footage will be sent to police and officers determine if a violation happened. Fines for illegally passing a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing start at $250. Officials say during a pilot run, one of the cameras picked up 20 violators.

“Here’s an example of where a little piece of technology is going to make a huge difference,” said Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster.

“The city school district is going to put its weight and effort behind this initiative because we think it’s very important to do all that we can to protect our students,” said Restaino.

The district hopes drivers will stop when they see those flashing red lights, now that people know about the cameras.

“Riders in Niagara Falls should be aware that you will now be caught, ticketed, and it’s absolutely the wrong thing to do to pass a school bus with their stop sign out,” Laurrie said.

This is part of a pilot program. District officials hope to fully implement the program on all of their buses, if they get the green light.