Essexville-Hampton Public School District Installs Cameras on Bus Stop Arms

A Bay County school district has installed cameras on school bus stop arms in an attempt to protect students.

Busses from Essexville-Hampton Public Schools had the cameras installed over the last week. Officials say the cameras are activated whenever the stop arm is extended, and they’ll record video and take pictures of any vehicle that passes the bus while it’s stopped. The district says those images will then be passed along to local and state police for better enforcement of traffic laws around school busses.

Essexville-Hampton Schools Director of Transportation Everett Jacobs says 2 or 3 vehicles run their busses’ stop signs each week, and it only takes once to become a tragedy.

“The safety of our children is our top priority,” said Jacobs. “I don’t ever want to be the one to make a call that a child has been hit by a vehicle while crossing the street at a school bus stop.”

According to state police, tickets for driving past a bus with its stop arm out range from $100 to $500.