'CARS JUST ZOOMING BY': New school bus...

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Parents tell Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price they've seen too many close calls with drivers speeding past stopped school buses. The school district has noticed it too, that's what prompted the district's new camera enforcement system.

More than 600 Lee County school buses will new 360-degree camera systems designed to catch drivers who illegally pass stopped buses. The district says it began installing the cameras on October 6.

Sarah Keville, a mother of a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old, told Price that safety concerns are paramount for families.

"Safety is obviously the number one priority, especially with little kids, early drop offs when it's still dark outside, people not paying attention or them just being so small that they can't see around vehicles," Keville said.

CJ Malloy, whose teenage children ride the bus, told Price he has seen violations firsthand on busy roads throughout the county.

"On Cypress Lake, they do it all the time! Middle school, high school, that's a main road. You see a bus stop. You see cars just zooming by left and right. So that's why they need those cameras," Malloy said.

David Newlan, Chief of Safety, Security and Fleet Operations for Lee County School District, told Price the district has been planning this implementation for more than a year after seeing repeated violations.

"I've seen when these violations have occurred right in front of me, and you see these things, you think about the kids," Newlan said.

Seth Nesbitt, who works on the installation team lead with Bus Patrol, told Price that the comprehensive system includes both interior and exterior cameras connected to a central DVR unit mounted inside each bus.

"We have a harness that's run throughout the bus, and it's connected to every single camera, which is hardwired," Nesbitt said.

The system captures violations from all angles around the bus. Cameron Webb, a technician with Bus Patrol, showed Price one of the camera's functions.

"Our camera 14, which is on the rear of the passenger side, It's a new camera for the state of Florida. So that way we can capture guys on the passenger side that might pass by," Webb said.

The cameras automatically activate when buses are running, requiring no action from bus drivers. An emergency button is available at the driver's panel if needed.

"Everything is automated. The drivers do not have to touch anything if the bus is running, the system is on and operational," Nesbitt said.

Newlan told Price the district will launch a 30-day awareness campaign in November, issuing only warnings to educate the public about bus safety laws. Real citations with fines will begin in December.

"We want to educate the public. Obviously, safety is our number one priority. We want to make sure our kids are safe, and we want the public to bring attention to them, the awareness and educate them about the laws," Newlan said.

When violations occur, the system captures license plates and automatically sends footage to Bus Patrol for review before forwarding to law enforcement.

"The Lee County Sheriff's Office will also be reviewing these citations to verify these are valid violations," Newlan said.

Violators will get tickets mailed to the registered vehicle owner, including access to footage that shows the violation. Drivers can either pay the fine or contest the citation in court. The district's ultimate goal is eliminating violations entirely through education and enforcement.

"We want to see no violations. That's our goal in Lee County," Newlan said.

Keville tells me she believes the combination of cameras and driver education will improve safety for all students.

"I think that they should be put on the buses. I think that it will help kind of catch people that aren't paying attention or not following the rules, and may make people more aware," Keville said.

Malloy told Price the district should have implemented these safety measures years ago.

"They should have been doing that. They put all these rules, metal detectors in schools and everything like that. So they should have been doing that. As far as safety the kids with the buses," Malloy said.

The district says it's about 1/3 of the way through the installation process. Bus Patrol representatives tell me they have already installed cameras on 250 to 300 buses and continue working to complete the remaining installations.

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