Janelle Irwin Taylor
With school well underway throughout Florida, Hillsborough County officials are again reminding drivers of their obligation when driving near school buses, rules established to save lives.
Hillsborough County Public Schools and BusPatrol, a company that administers stop-arm safety cameras to bust drivers who don’t stop for the precious cargo-containing vehicles, recently released a report card detailing results from last year’s safety camera program.
Some videos are terrifying, showing children barely missed by vehicles zipping past as the children exit or approach the school bus. The videos were captured directly by AI-powered BusPatrol stop-arm cameras.
A staggering 72,000 violations were issued to drivers who failed to stop when the stop arm was down. But there’s good news: Early results show a less than 5% recidivism rate among those cited. That means drivers are learning, and the program is working.
In fact, from the first month to the last month of school in the 2024-25 school year in Hillsborough County there was a 72% drop in violations.
With the 2025-26 school year now underway, citations are again beginning, this year under an updated framework that allows drivers who wish to contest a citation to more easily pursue such disputes.
New legislation (SB 462) approved this year unanimously sets local hearings for stop-arm camera violations to be administered by independent administrative law Judges conducted online via video conferencing. Contesting violations before the new law was difficult and, in some cases, impossible.
Video footage is independently reviewed by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office before any citations are issued.
Now, the program can continue to cite bad actors while ensuring due process for those who believe they were wrongly ticketed.
But Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent Van Ayers is reminding that the ultimate goal is to save kids.
“As drivers, we all have the power to protect our children. Our district transports nearly 80,000 students each day and their safety is our number one priority,” he said.
Under Florida law, drivers are required to stop when a school bus displays a stop signal. Drivers may only resume travel once the signal is withdrawn.
While the primary goal of the BusPatrol program is driver education resulting in fewer unsafe violations, the program is also allowing data to be used to proactively adjust bus routes in high-risk areas, further protecting students as they get on and off the school bus.
“We are proud that the BusPatrol program is delivering real safety results across Hillsborough County. We will continue to collaborate with community leaders this upcoming school year to continue making the journey to and from school safer for all students,” BusPatrol Chief Growth Officer Steve Randazzo said.
Hillsborough County is so far the only county operating in compliance with the new state law. Other programs — such as one in neighboring Polk County administered by a competing company, Verra Mobility — are on pause without a hearing process implemented.
Now, other counties are beginning to choose BusPatrol for its compliance with state law, including Lee, Brevard, Duval and Broward.
BusPatrol’s compliance stems in part from its work on the legislation, which its team worked on to advocate for the latest reforms.
Drivers should understand the law regarding stopping for school buses. Motorists in both directions are required to stop when a school bus has its stop arm activated, even in multilane roads with a turn lane dividing lanes.
On divided highways, roads with a barrier or unpaved median separating directional flow, motorists traveling the same direction as the school bus are required to stop when the stop arm is displayed. Drivers traveling in the opposition direction are not required to stop, but must exercise caution when passing the school bus.
