Carmel, NY – Today, Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne announced a new partnership with BusPatrol America to launch a new safety program to safeguard students and tackle illegal school bus passings. BusPatrol has reported extraordinary success in counties throughout New York State, including Albany County, Dutchess County, Rensselaer County, and Rockland County.

The new agreement enables all six school districts within the County to deploy BusPatrol’s turnkey stop-arm safety solution across their entire fleets at no cost to taxpayers. This includes automated stop-arm cameras to detect the license plates of vehicles that fail to stop for school buses. In addition, school districts can benefit from additional safety features such as internal cameras to monitor dangerous activity onboard the bus. The program is entirely and exclusively funded by violators over a 5-year term.

“The safety of our kids’ is always going to be a priority. The opportunity to implement a program at no cost to taxpayers that protects students made this an obvious partnership to develop,” said Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne. “We are taking proactive steps to protect our children and hold irresponsible drivers accountable for their actions.”

The Putnam County School Bus Safety Program will be preceded by a robust education and awareness campaign to remind motorists about the school bus safety traffic laws. 

“The Putnam County School Bus Safety Program is a crucial initiative to ensure the well-being of our students,” said Legislator Ginny Nacerino. “Through this partnership with BusPatrol, we are enhancing road safety and sending a clear message that illegal passings will not be tolerated.”

“Our children deserve a safe journey to and from school and this program will help make that a reality,” said Mary Smith, Patterson Councilwoman and Traffic Safety Advisory Board member. “This program reinforces our commitment to protecting students and by leveraging innovative technology, we are sending a strong message that the safety is our priority. I thank County Executive Byrne for helping make this program a reality.”

“This public-private partnership is a win-win for student safety,” said Steve Randazzo, EVP at BusPatrol. “Putnam County is taking a huge step forward to enhance road safety and ensure every child travels safely to school. This program will hold irresponsible drivers accountable for jeopardizing the well-being of our children and provide a safer ride to and from school for the 13,200 students in Putnam County.”

The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services estimates that 43.5 million vehicles illegally pass stopped school buses annually in the United States. In New York, there are an estimated 50,000 illegal school bus passings each school day.

Drivers are reminded to be cautious when driving around school buses and always stop for a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing and stop-arm deployed.

For more information about BusPatrol, go to: https://buspatrol.com/