School Bus Safety Week - October 20 - 24

October 2025 - Orange County, NY -  This week is National School Bus Safety Week, a great time to remind drivers of their responsibilities around school buses. The Orange County School Bus Safety Program launched in 2024 to reduce the number of drivers who illegally pass school buses.

The Orange County School Bus Safety Program, implemented in partnership with BusPatrol, outfits entire school bus fleets across the county with cutting-edge safety technology. This includes state-of-the-art AI-powered cameras designed to detect license plates of vehicles that violate school bus traffic laws. The provision, installation, and maintenance of this advanced technology come at zero cost to the school districts and taxpayers, thanks to BusPatrol's violator-funded program.

This program has been accepted by more and more school districts across Orange County. Presently, more than 1000 school buses in Orange County possess this safety technology.

“Keeping kids safe, that’s the number one goal of this program”, says Legislator Tom Faggione who sponsored this program in the legislature.

Reducing school bus stop-arm violations is working. The automated camera system serves as a deterrent and education tool for motorists considering breaking the law and passing a stopped school bus. Data from other safety programs demonstrates that 98% of first-time offenders do not receive a second ticket and that 95% of drivers do not contest their ticket after seeing video evidence of their violation. Statistics show automated school bus stop-arm enforcement has successfully reduced violations by more than 40%.

For more information about the Orange County School Bus Safety Program and its mission to safeguard our children's journey to and from school, contact Rob Doss, Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Services – Police Liaison, at RDoss@orangecountygov.com.