DEMOREST — In a hurry and thinking about passing a stopped school bus? That's a bad decision any day, but especially in Habersham County now that the county has stop arm cameras on its school buses.
"You're looking at a six-point violation with a [license] suspension," said Sgt. 1st Class Chad Johnson of Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa. "Again, a trickle-down effect to your insurance companies as well. It's not only important on the safety end, which is our most important factor, but there are repercussions for that violation that are serious."
Officials from the school system and area law enforcement gathered inside the county bus shop Wednesday morning to announce the new safety initiative.
Habersham County Transportation Director Tim Dockery explained the significance of the day.
"This is a big day in that it's going to make our students in Habersham County on school buses safer," Dockery said. "That was our goal from the beginning. These cameras will take pictures of vehicles as they pass a stopped school bus, and then that information will be used to track those people down and issue citations."
Dockery and Transportation Coordinator Stephanie Walker were joined by Doug Dyment, founder and chief executive officer of Gatekeeper Systems Inc., and Katie Sharkey, territory manager and Stop Arm Project manager for Gatekeeper Systems Inc. in Georgia.
"Habersham County Schools has partnered with our company to implement a revenue sharing stop arm camera program for their school bus fleet," Sharkey said in announcing the initiative. "This program is an exciting opportunity for school districts in Georgia and is really a first of its kind. There are other vendors who offer programs similar to ours in the state, however we are the first to offer revenue sharing programs to school districts regardless of size or stop arm violation count. We are passionate about adding a layer of protection inside of the bus, and are excited to be extending this to the outside of the bus as well."
Johnson said GSP Post 7 worked a school bus stop sign-related wreck in Cornelia.
"A gentleman ran the stop sign and then stopped, which caused a crash," Johnson said.
In that instance, both the driver who initially ran the bus' stop sign and the car that ran the bus' stop sign after him and then struck the rear of his vehicle were cited, Johnson said.
Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell said his office will handle the citations issued as a result of the stop arm violations indicated by the stop arm cameras, whether in the county or one of its cities.
"We're happy to partner with our school system," Terrell said. "When Transportation Director Tim Dockery brought this to me about it, we got with our other municipalities in the county and the Georgia State Patrol and talked about how we were going to handle this."
Because it was easier to have one agency looking at the video, the Habersham County Sheriff's Office traffic officers will review video and issue citations where violations are determined.
"The thing is with people running the stop signs there are at least 15 lights on the front of these buses, many of them flashing," Dockery said. "And it's bright yellow, National School Bus Chrome Yellow in fact, but they still don't see it and pass by it."
Terrell said the focus is on protecting students, not generating revenue.
"Nobody's interested in making any money," Terrell said. "It's all about safety for our kids getting on and off school buses. We've had several instances in the past where we've had close calls with kids by people not stopping for the stop sign and stop bar on the bus, so we're excited about upping the ante for the safety of our children."
Terrell said any money collected from stop arm violation fines will go to help purchase additional buses for the county.
"This has been a process that's gone on for about a year and a half," Dockery said. "I'd like to thank a lot of people, Joey Terrell in particular, all of these officers that are standing behind me, the Georgia State Patrol, Demorest, Cornelia, Clarkesville, our school resource officers, as well as the sheriff's department and others. In addition to that, our court system has been big supporters for us, as well as our board of education and our superintendent, Matthew Cooper."
Cooper, who was unable to attend, issued a statement about the new initiative.
"Adding stop arm cameras to our buses is one of the best things we have ever done in the area of student safety," Cooper's statement reads. "I have been disgusted at the number of people who are willing to pass a stopped school bus when the lights are flashing and the stop arm is out. The implementation of these stop arm cameras will save lives. We are very proud to be working with the Habersham County Sheriff's Office and with Gatekeepers on this very important project."
Officials remind drivers they must stop for a school bus that has its stop lights activated and stop sign out when they are behind the bus, or when they are traveling in the opposite direction is there is no physical barrier separating the road's directions.
"If you're following a school bus and going in the same direction, if those lights are on, you must stop," Dockery said. "Everybody stops."
A center turn lane does not qualify as a physical barrier and therefore all drivers meeting a bus across a center turn lane must stop.
"If you're going in the opposite direction, meeting a stopped school bus, stop in every instance except when there is a physical barrier between you and that bus, that being like a median and/or a raised concrete barrier or wall" Dockery said. "Otherwise, you stop in both directions every time you see that those lights are flashing."
