POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Superintendent Frederick Heid discussed a new school bus safety program in a press conference Wednesday morning.
The sheriff shared new details on the "Safe Stop" program, which will see cameras installed on Polk County school buses in an effort to crack down on drivers who illegally pass them while they're stopped.
During the conference, Heid said the program responds to an "unprecedented number of student fatalities" from traffic-related incidents recorded within the district last year.
Twenty-two Polk County students were killed in traffic incidents last school year, Heid said during the conference.
"Last school year, as we collected data for this proposal, we had over 400 instances where our bus drivers reported that somebody had unsafely passed a school bus after they had stopped," Heid said Wednesday.
Sheriff Judd said while he's always been against red light cameras, he "immediately embraced" the idea of them on school buses.
"There is absolutely nothing in this world more important to us than our children," Judd said at the conference.
The sheriff asserted that anyone who decides to pass a stopped school bus with its lights on and stop arm out would be fined. But, Judd added that drivers will be given a more than 60-day window to attend basic driver improvement school to have points reduced and lower their fine.
According to the school district, citations for illegally passing a school bus will be given out starting on Sept. 24. Students' first day of the new school year is Aug. 12.
"We're going to be fair," Judd said. "We're going to give you a clear voice with this, even though it won't be at the moment of the infraction."
Matt Reich, a representative with bus safety company Verra Mobility, described how the cameras operate on the buses, explaining that they only turn on when the bus is stopped and the stop sign arm is fully out
"98% of people that violate the school bus and receive a citation and pay it do not get a second one," Reich said during Wednesday's conference. "So, it shows that it changes the driver behavior long-term."
To learn more about the program, watch the full press conference below: