SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio City Council members Thursday unanimously approved an ordinance that allows school districts to install cameras to catch drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses.
The ordinance also creates a civil penalty for those drivers who ignore school bus stop signs and flashing lights. A city press release did not say what that penalty would be.
The Texas state transportation code already has a criminal penalty for drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses.
The ordinance was sponsored by District 2 Councilman, Alan Warrick, and District 6 Councilman, Ray Lopez.
“Child safety is of great concern to all of us,” councilman Lopez said in a city press release. “This ordinance supports our collaboration with the school districts to help enhance driver safety awareness around school buses.”
Warrick stressed the importance of the ordinance in decreasing school bus-related injuries.
“Most of the children killed in bus-related crashes are pedestrians," Warrick said in the release.
So far Southwest, East Central, Judson and Northeast independent school districts are participating in the program to increase bus safety.
They are part of a group that includes 16 other Texas municipalities to create civil penalties for running school bus stop signs since 2012.