Loudoun Co. considers stop-arm bus cameras, but may not expand school zone speed cameras – WTOP News

Loudoun County is the latest Northern Virginia jurisdiction to consider adding cameras to its school bus stop-arms.

During a joint meeting between the Board of Supervisors and school board Monday night, Lt. Col. Chris Sawyer with the county’s sheriff’s office said the program would ideally be in place starting in the fall.

Virginia law requires drivers to completely stop when there’s a school bus loading or unloading students with its lights flashing. Through the program, any driver caught not stopping under those circumstances would get a $250 ticket.

It wouldn’t result in points on a driver’s license or impact insurance rates, Sawyer said. Other nearby school systems, including Fairfax County, have deployed a school bus stop-arm camera program.

Generally, drivers who receive stop-arm camera tickets don’t fail to stop a second time, Sawyer said.

“Speeding at school zones is definitely dangerous,” Sawyer said. “Passing school buses with their stop sign out is insanity. I mean, it is. The fact that it even occurs is just wild, and so we believe this is a great initiative to help stop those violations.”

Putting the program in place would require a county ordinance. A draft of the ordinance will be scheduled for Board of Supervisors review soon, Sawyer said.

Last year, deputies gave out 36 tickets for failing to stop when a bus stop arm is deployed, Sawyer said. Generally, enforcing the violation is challenging, he said.

“First of all, the buses are on a path, stopping once at each location,” Sawyer said. “It’s logistically difficult for deputies to stay ahead of bus routes and observe violations, and if the deputies follow the buses when a violation occurs, they then have to also pass the school bus, which is not a good solution.”

The expectation is a third-party vendor would install the cameras, Sawyer said.

Separately during Monday’s meeting, Leesburg police touted the impact speed cameras in school zones are having on driver behavior.

Starting in August, the Town of Leesburg placed six cameras in three school zones, prioritizing areas that have the most pedestrian traffic in the mornings and afternoons. The cameras are near Tolbert and Balls Bluff elementary schools, Harper Park Middle School and Loudoun County High School.

Drivers going 11 mph or more above the posted speed limit receive a $100 ticket.

The cameras capture still pictures and video, and footage is reviewed before citations are sent. They’re calibrated twice per day, and enforcement is about an hour per day, per school — 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes for afternoon dismissal, according to David Smith, Leesburg’s deputy police chief.

Through March 20, there were 3,074 tickets issued. But the average number of citations per day has been decreasing, Smith said.

“Anytime that I’m seeing these signs where there’s cameras in use, we’re overall seeing a reduction in speed, whether the lights are on in the school zone or not,” Smith said. “People are paying attention.”

Each camera costs about $3,100 per month to operate, Smith said.

Asked whether the sheriff’s office is considering adding cameras in other school zones across the county, Sawyer said the agency isn’t, because “we believe that it can change the dynamic and the feel of a community.”

Instead, Sawyer said the agency has opted for “physical enforcement of speed violations,” prioritizing officers in a median or on the side of a road running speed enforcement.

“We do speed enforcement in the school zones, and we have preferred that over automated systems,” Sawyer said.

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