More than 5,000 drivers ticketed by Richmond school bus cameras

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - NBC12 has uncovered that stop-arm cameras on Richmond Public School buses have caught a staggering number of drivers illegally passing buses when the flashing stop sign is out.

Last school year was the first full school year that Richmond Public Schools had buses with the cameras. RPS representatives report that 5,474 drivers were ticketed. Each of those $250 tickets were sent in the mail, after being reviewed by a Richmond police officer.

Since cameras started rolling in May of 2017, the school system has brought in $957,117.

But, that money isn’t going to Richmond schools, yet.

For now, the fine revenue is paying off the Virginia-based bus camera company BusPatrol America, which installed the cameras on 100 RPS buses, at no charge. The money will pay off all of the camera equipment first. Then, RPS will receive 40 percent of the fine revenue.

RPS representatives say that 130 buses still need to be equipped with the cameras.

BusPatrol America continues to maintain all of the cameras and process the data for police approval, according to David Poirier, the president of BusPatrol America.

“Approximately 98 percent of the registered owners who pay their fines don’t get a second violation notice,” said Poirier in an email to NBC12. “It works because motorists learn that there are consequences for violating school bus stop-arm laws.”

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