INDIANAPOLIS — Safe Fleet unveiled two new intelligent perimeter safety solutions — the Predictive Stop Arm and Right-Hand Danger Zone protection systems — at a demonstration here on Sunday.

Using predictive analytics, advanced sensors, and radar technology, the new solutions are designed to improve safety outside the school bus, enhance driver performance, and optimize fleet operations management, according to a news release from Safe Fleet.

“In today’s complex world, school districts need a strategic partner to bring an intelligent perspective to safety,” said John R. Knox, chairman and CEO of Safe Fleet. “We are pleased to be the first and only provider of proactive solutions in the school transportation industry that use artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to drive safety forward. Our patents-pending intelligent perimeter safety solutions turn the danger zone into a safety zone.”

The Predictive Stop Arm aims to notify bus drivers and students directly when risk is detected, and mitigate driver distraction with reduced false alerts, according to Safe Fleet.

The Right-Hand Danger Zone protection system detects students and their movements outside the bus and displays visual warnings to alert the operator when a safety risk is present.

Safe Fleet introduced both solutions for the first time in public in an Illegal Passing and Bus Perimeter Safety demonstration at this year's STN Expo.

The company said that both solutions are currently being piloted at school districts across the U.S. and Canada.

As SBF previously reported in May, Hopkins (Minn.) Public Schools has been running a pilot test with the Predictive Stop-Arm system since April, and plans to continue testing it over the course of the next year.

More recently, Clark-Pleasant Community Schools Corp. in Whiteland, Indiana, started a pilot program to equip its school transportation vehicles with Safe Fleet’s Predictive Stop Arm and Right-Hand Danger Zone protection systems, CBS 4 reports.

Bob Downin, the transportation director for Clark-Pleasant School District, told the news source that the Predictive Stop-Arm system will help protect children before the bus even leaves school property. He also said that the district plans to outfit seven of its new buses with the predictive stop-arm system this fall.