Since this Wednesday, the more than a thousand Miami-Dade Public Schools Buses They travel equipped with control cameras that, through artificial intelligence, detect and take photographs of the license plates of the vehicles illegally passing stopped school buses.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS), in partnership with Miami-Dade Police and BusPatrol, launched the Largest School Bus Stop Camera Enforcement Program in the United States.
The 1,065 buses in the MDCPS fleet already circulate in the county with the devices, after this measure came into effect, which “will improve the safety of students and combat the reckless driving behavior around school buses,” stressed the Miami-Dade Police Department.
In 2023, the governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation authorizing the state’s school districts to use cameras to catch drivers illegally passing stopped school buses with flashing red lights and extended stop signs.
A month ago, in an unprecedented decision in South Florida, the Miami-Dade public school sector began equipping its school buses with stop cameras.
At the same time, they established a 30-day warning period and launched a campaign to educate drivers about the dangers of illegally passing a school bus.
During that period, the Miami-Dade Police Department sent more than 10,000 South Florida drivers notices by mail, warning them that they had been caught on a school bus camera violating a traffic law by passing. illegally to a stopped school bus.
This May 8, the grace period came to an end and, from now on, drivers who are caught illegally passing a stopped school bus will receive a minimum fine of $200 by mail.
In addition to stop cameras, buses were equipped with interior cameras “to protect students and drivers from incidents that occur in the vehicle,” according to the school district.
