'You must stop for school buses': Cheltenham Township police vow crackdown on violators

CHELTENHAM TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- With thousands of tickets issued, and tens of thousands in fines levied, Cheltenham Township Police were hoping to see this trend come to an end. Now, they are renewing the push for drivers to proceed carefully around school buses.

It happens too often. A child is crossing after exiting a school bus being narrowly missed by an illegally passing car.

"If it hadn't been for the bus driver being aware and leaning out the window, waving down the car to stop -- that car would have struck that child across the street," (t. Andy Snyder, with Cheltenham Twp Police Department, said during a press conference on Thursday.

It's a rampant issue in the township, with more than 5,400 violations issued in 14 months.

Now, the department is sounding the alarm.

They are recording maneuvers around stopped busses and there's a hefty fine to pay.

"It's currently $300," Snyder warned.

The message is simple: You must stop for stopped busses.

But after a year-plus of utilizing bus patrol automated cameras on the district's entire fleet of busses, police say they are noticing a disturbing trend.

"We are frustrated that we're seeing this high number of violations, and we are frustrating that so many drivers either aren't aware of or are intentionally disregarding the duties when approaching a school bus," Snyder said.

With bus patrol, each bus has up to five cameras to capture the violation, along with a license plate reader. The cost, which adds up to about $6,000 per bus, is paid for by citation collection.

"This is about to amp up before we have a tragedy and that's why we're here right now," said Dr. Brian Scriven, Cheltenham Superintendent of Schools.

This October alone, there were more than 700 citations issued by the police department. That's why they are reminding drivers to pay close attention to school buses and protect the youngest of our society.