The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will be revising the manual about school buses this year due to a law change that allows school districts to install cameras on buses.
OSPI will have a public meeting about the proposed changes to the manual on Oct. 7. More information about how to provide input is in the press release at the bottom of this post.
The new law, which was passed during the last Legislative session, allows school districts to install cameras that will take photos of cars that go past the bus while loading and unloading students. It is illegal to pass buses when they have the stop sign out, yet people do it all the time (I witness this happen just last week in Bellingham). The cameras would only take pictures of the vehicle and the license plate, not the driver or passengers.
The press release from OSPI is below:
State law will allow cameras on school buses
Public hearing on new rules to be held Oct. 7
OLYMPIA — September 28, 2011 — A new state law may make it easier to catch drivers who neglect school bus stop signs.
The law allows school districts to voluntarily install automated camera systems on school buses. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is revising its School Bus Specifications Manual to include the new law.
A public meeting on the revisions will be held at 2 p.m., Oct. 7, 2011, in the OSPI building in Olympia.
Substitute Senate Bill 5540, passed by the 2011 Legislature, allows the use of cameras on school buses to identify vehicles illegally passing school buses when students are entering or leaving those buses. The law restricts the camera system to only take pictures of the vehicle and vehicle license plate and not of the driver or any passengers.
The camera systems must be approved by a majority vote of school board members before they can be installed.
Fines from tickets generated through the cameras are identical to fines given by police officers (currently $394). The revenue generated from the automated tickets may be used to offset the cost of the purchase of the camera system and for administrative costs. Any funds remaining are returned to the school district to be used for school zone safety projects.
State law gives OSPI the authority to govern the design, marking and mode of operation of public school buses in Washington state. The agency has proposed the following specification for the camera systems:
CAMERAS—(Optional)
Automated Safety Camera
May be photo, micro-photo or electronic images
Images must be legible in any lighting condition without use of visible flash
Cameras may be mounted inside or outside the bus, if outside must not extend over six inches out from the side of the bus
Shall verify the “STOP” sign is deployed and red lights are flashing at time of detection
Shall capture the rear license plate, from either direction, at the time an illegally passing vehicle is detected
May be located on the left and/or the right side of the bus
Shall capture images only of the lanes immediately to the left and/or the right of the bus
Shall not be driver activated or distract the driver during operation
Shall not obstruct the driver’s direct line of sight in any direction
The Oct. 7 meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the details of the specification language. Comments dated on or before Oct. 7 may be provided electronically to Allan Jones, the Director of Student Transportation at allan.jones@k12.wa.us or by mail at:
Allan J. Jones
Director of Student Transportation
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
PO Box 47200
Olympia WA 98504-7200
WHSmith’s, etc.
2. Buy sheetmaps, also Michelin, in The Red Series of large area maps No.918 covers northern France and 919 covers the south. (1cm =