BSD bus paddle cameras go into effect Jan. 7.

The 27 bus paddle cameras have officially gone into effect; violators will receive a $419 citation.

By Madison Miller • January 12, 2019 12:30 pm

School is back in session for students in the Bellevue School District (BSD), and with it, the school bus paddle cameras have officially gone into effect.

As of Jan. 7, all 27 bus paddle cameras are in full effect. In 2017, BSD bus drivers approached the district with concerns regarding student safety as they board on and off the bus.

“It is terrifying when a car flies by and you’re loading kids in and you’re like, ‘Whoa, that was close!’” BSD’s the director of transportation, Mark Hazen, said. “It scares us to death.”

In October 2017, the district implemented a pilot bus paddle camera program on two of its buses for nine weeks. Within those nine weeks, there were 118 violations. According to Melissa deVita, the deputy superintendent of finance and operations for BSD, that solidified the district’s decision to go forward with installing more bus paddle cameras.

In October 2018, bus paddle cameras were installed on 27 BSD buses — 20 percent of BSD’s bus fleet. The high-resolution cameras are attached to the exterior of the school buses and detect vehicles that pass when the bus’s stop paddle is extended. The cameras record an image and video of the passing vehicle’s license plate as well as the extended paddle.

BSD held a grace period from Dec. 3 through Dec. 21 where violators of bus safety laws received a warning and not a citation.

“I don’t think any of our citizens would willingly put kids at risk. I really think it’s a lack of knowledge of what the rules are and when you should stop and when you don’t,” deVita said.

BSD has been working to inform Bellevue residents of the paddle cameras as well as providing education on when and when not to pass a school bus.

As of Jan. 7, violators will receive a $419 citation.

Enforcement will began when students returned from winter break on Jan. 7.

“Our hope is that a greater number of drivers will stop as required for school buses, and the number of violations will diminish over the lifetime of this program,” BSD said in a release.

For more information about the program, visit the Reporter’s previous story.