Are Lee County school bus cameras working?

LEE COUNTY, Fla. —

For more than five months now, cameras have been mounted on more than 600 Lee County school buses catching drivers illegally passing stopped buses and the numbers are staggering.

“I love them. I think it's great for our kids,” said Michelle Deason, a bus driver of more than 20 years.

Gulf Coast News Anchor Elyse Chengery sat down with Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno and David Newlan, the chief of safety, security, emergency management and fleet operations for the School District of Lee County, to find out if the BusPatrol program is working.

"When the public hears about how many violations we have, I think it surprises them. It surprises me, you know, I think it gives them an awareness piece that OK, there's more violations than I was actually aware of,” Newlan said.

“There is a consequence. I mean, before we had the camera systems, I mean, you could radio in dispatch, and if you could get their license plate number. But I mean, you don't have proof, so, you know, there's usually no consequences. Well, now you have proof, and you can take it. They take a picture of your license,” Deason said.

More than 20,000 violations have already been issued since the BusPatrol Program launched in December, generating millions of dollars as each citation is $225. Despite that price tag, dangerous violations are still happening every single day and the videos can be shocking

“It's surprising when you watch the violations,” Marceno said.

Newlan, “I've seen some of the videos, and it is surprising. I've seen a couple where I had one video with a person to avoid getting a citation, went across the median against oncoming traffic to avoid a citation. And that could have been deadly.”

Lee County school leaders say the goal isn’t punishment — it’s awareness.

According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the BusPatrol Program, drivers cited statistically don’t violate again.

“This program absolutely works. 91% percent of the people that violate do not repeat violate,” Marceno said.

Still, with the amount of money collected now totaling more than $5 million, it has raised questions from the public about where that money is going.

Money goes to BusPatrol — the actual program with the cameras that sends out the violations, money to LCSO for reviewing those tapes and the rest goes to the School District of Lee County.

And taxpayers, this program doesn't cost you or the sheriff's office, as it’s funded through the violations. We've been working on getting the exact breakdown of how much goes to which department and continue to push for those answers.

"The idea is not to try to get revenue from citations. That's not what it's about. It's about correcting bad habits. It's about protecting our children," Newlan said.

Officials say many drivers still don’t fully understand Florida’s school bus law, especially when it comes to medians and divided roadways, and with thousands of children using more than 1,000 bus stops across Lee County every day, education remains the biggest priority.

"The grid's busier than ever, there's more construction than ever, you have all types of vehicles, motorcycle and pedestrian traffic, and, in this case, children waiting for buses. Take time. Be patient, allow yourself more time, but drive responsible because that's everybody's business," Marceno said.

“That's our future. They have to go to school,” Deason said.

“We don't want people to get citations. We want them to stop. We want because we want to keep our kids safe,“ Newlan said.

According to BusPatrol, nearly 40 million drivers will illegally pass a stopped school bus this year, so this program is designed to stop this dangerous behavior.

Lee County leaders say the cameras are here to stay and hope the growing awareness means fewer dangerous violations in the months ahead.

DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.