Efforts are underway to stop motorists from illegally passing stopped school buses in Westchester County.
The Hendrick Hudson School District and BusPatrol released results from a pilot program on Tuesday.
From September through October, cameras caught 367 motorists illegally passing a stopped school bus.
BusPatrol installs several cameras on each of the districts’ school buses. The cameras are activated when the bus engages the stops sign and lights, and records any driver trying to illegally pass a school bus actively dropping off a child.
The school district thinks this equipment is essential to the safety of the children.
"I think it's extremely important to the safety of the kids and also to the safety of our drivers because these guys are so worried about the kids that they transport. There's nothing more terrifying than seeing a kid almost get hit by a car,” says Liz Gilleo, the Transportation Supervisor of Hendrick Hudson School District.
Westchester County is the only country in the lower Hudson Valley, that does not have this program full time.
In order to deter drivers, the school district needs the Westchester County Board of legislators to get on board with installing new technology.
Last week, the Somers School District and BusPatrol released a report that recorded 280 cars passing school buses in two months.