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Montgomery, Frederick Counties May Install School Bus Cameras

By: Matt Bush // January 25, 2012
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Montgomery County is looking to crack down on cars that go around school buses stopped to load and unload passengers.
Rosa Say (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosasay/4768778416/)
Montgomery County is looking to crack down on cars that go around school buses stopped to load and unload passengers.

Montgomery County already has plenty of cameras stationed on roads to catch drivers breaking laws, and soon there could be more. But these cameras would be on school buses.

They wouldn't be watching students; they'd be looking for drivers who go around school buses when they're stopped, which is against the law. Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin proposed the measure, saying she hears often from school bus drivers who see motorists doing this all the time, and never getting fined.

"This bill is not designed to catch speeding. We have speed cameras in the county already," Ervin says. "These cameras are specifically designed to take photographs of cars that are going around school buses that are stopped; they're stationary, they have their arm down."

Frederick County commissioners are considering a similar bill. The Maryland General Assembly okayed the ability for counties to install the cameras and issue fines last year.

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