As students settle into a new school year, several communities are expanding efforts to address dangerous driving around schools and school buses. Verra Mobility has just announced it is launching new school bus stop-arm safety programs in Hall County, Georgia, and Lake County, Florida, while the Osceola County School Board has also approved a new program.

Stop-Arm Camera Programs Show Declines in Violations

According to Verra Mobility data, stop-arm camera programs demonstrate positive changes in driver behavior, including:

• 53% average decline in stop-arm citations during the 2025-2026 school year across Verra Mobility programs  
• 98% of cited drivers did not repeat the offense during the 2025-2026 school year across Verra Mobility programs  
• 97% decline in school zone speeding violations according to 2025 data published by the University of South Florida in October 2025 
• 87% reduction in speeding in Atlanta school zones four months after the launch of the school zone speed program in 2023

“Schools and communities are making student safety a priority as the new school year begins, and we applaud their commitment to addressing dangerous driving that puts children at risk, said Stacey Moser, chief customer officer at Verra Mobility. “We’ve seen these programs deliver meaningful results by changing driver behavior over time, and we’re proud to support communities taking action to help make the journey to and from school safer.”

How Districts Can Address Illegal School Bus Passing

For schools that want to address illegal school bus passing but have budget constraints, Matt Reich, head of growth and strategic partnerships, school bus division at Verra Mobility, points out that most stop-arm enforcement programs are violator-funded, which provides the safety programs districts need with no budgetary impact. In many communities, violation funds also support other safety needs, such as crossing guard retention or traffic calming near schools.

For districts without legislation supporting a school bus stop-arm program, transportation leaders can start by identifying where illegal passing happens most often. Reich suggests a simple hashmark chart for drivers to report incidents can reveal patterns by stop, route, time of day, and direction of travel.

Districts can then share findings with local law enforcement to focus patrols where and when the risk is greatest. They can also review those stops with their routing teams, considering visibility, traffic conditions, and whether students must cross the road to reach their stop, and adjust routes where a safer option exists.

“Bringing that evidence to school leaders and community stakeholders can help build support for further safety measures before a child is hurt,” Reich said.