Education
Education

School bus safety: Georgia’s rules of the road

A school bus navigates rush hour traffic on I-75 South on Thursday. At least four school bus crashes take place each day in metro Atlanta. The state Department of Education reports that some Georgia school systems do a poor job of reporting accidents, which makes it hard to pinpoint and solve potential safety issues. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: Curtis Compton

Credit: Curtis Compton

A school bus navigates rush hour traffic on I-75 South on Thursday. At least four school bus crashes take place each day in metro Atlanta. The state Department of Education reports that some Georgia school systems do a poor job of reporting accidents, which makes it hard to pinpoint and solve potential safety issues. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
By Mandi Albright and
Dec 16, 2016

Gwinnett County, the state's largest school district, placed cameras alongside its school buses in late 2014 to catch motorists who weren't stopping when school buses stopped to pick up or drop off students.

Between January and June 2015, Gwinnett’s school system collected $573,425 in fines. The school district uses the money it receives to cover costs for officers who review the footage and for transportation-related safety projects.

Cobb and Clayton counties, Decatur, Marietta and Atlanta are among the districts also using school bus cameras.

To learn more about the Gwinnett County School Bus Camera Safety Program as well as conditions and fines, go here.

Here’s a quiz about the rules for motorists when they approach a stopped school bus. The answers are shown after Question 4.

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About the Authors

Mandi Albright writes the AJC's Deja News feature and is an online presentation specialist with the AJC's Digital Presentation team.

Eric Stirgus joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2001. He is the newsroom's education editor. Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Eric is active in the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and the Education Writers Association and enjoys mentoring aspiring journalists.

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