According to Albany County, stop arm cameras found nearly 1,000 drivers illegally drove past a stopped school bus during a one month span.
Data provided by Albany County Executive Dan McCoy shows 923 tickets were issued between November 28 and December 28, 2022. The cameras were on school buses in the South Colonie School District.
“There’s probably a lot of angry people out there, but how would you feel if you hit a child? How would you feel?” asked McCoy at a press conference held Friday.
County is now playing videos of some of the offenders.@MCCoyCountyExec says this isn’t about giving tickets. It’s about making sure kids are safe getting on and off the bus. pic.twitter.com/R1Y1wMJemt
— Jaclyn Cangro (@JaclynCangro) January 13, 2023
The county executive’s office says the tickets generated $92,300 in revenue for the county.
The bus safety program was launched in September 2022, but ticketing did not begin until November 28.
According to Adam Hornick, who oversees the process, videos generated by the cameras are reviewed daily in order to determine if there was a violation. If there is, the person will be ticketed.
“We follow the saying a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, these videos are worth 10,000 words, but the only word that matters is our children,” says Hornick.
Additional schools are expected to join the bus safety program as the school year continues.