NILES — Standing in the school transportation garage on Water Street Southeast, Tammy Wilson recalled her most frightening moment as a bus driver.

“Last year, I was dropping off right in the schoolzone by the high school,” she said. “I was dropping my middle schoolers off, and a lady was coming across the street, right off the road by Giant Eagle, and the student was, like, right there crossing. If I didn’t lay on my horn, and if the kid wouldn’t have stopped, he would’ve gotten hit.”

Wilson said the worst part is that the closecall last year was not an isolated incident. She said vehicles ignore her bus’s flashing lights and stoparm regularly.

“I had five yesterday,” she said. “Probably two the day before. It’s constant.”

The Niles City School District has addressed the issue. At the beginning of October, stop-arm cameras were installed on all district buses to gather information about potential violators.

“The most dangerous place for the children is outside of the bus,” district transportation supervisor Julie Green said. “With these cameras, we’re hoping to eliminate people running the red lights and stop signs on the buses.”

According to a news release, the cameras provide high-resolution recording that captures video and images of vehicles that illegally pass a stopped school bus with its stop-arm extended and lights flashing. The cameras also are equipped with license- plate recognition technology, which will make it easier for law enforcement to identify and address violators.

Green, who also drives for the district, said she, too, has noticed an uptick in stop-arm violators. She said she is not sure why this is the case, but she knew the district needed to do something to increase the safety of its students as they enter or exit the buses.

“One day last week, I had five people run my red lights,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like a lot when you think about all of the traffic that is on the road, but one is too many. People just aren’t stopping.

“I don’t know necessarily that it’s because they’re misinformed about the rules and the laws of stop signs on the school bus, but we have, on a weekly basis, a multitude of cars which run the reds.”

According to the news release, Ohio law requires motorists to stop at least 10 feet in front or behind a bus that has its red lights activated and stoparm extended. Violators can face fines up to $500.

Niles police Chief Jay Holland said it has been difficult for bus drivers to provide the department the information it needs to enforce such fines.

“We’ve always taken complaints from the school bus drivers,” Holland said. “There’s a form they send over to our traffic officer when they observe a violation.

“They have to get the license plate number of the car, which can be difficult at times if its going the opposite way of where (the bus) is going. Our traffic officer always tries to follow up on those the best he can. But now, they’re apparently going to have high-definition video and a picture of the license plate and a video of the violation to forward to our traffic officer instead of just a written form. That’ll give him a lot more to go off of instead of just a partial license plate number.”

Holland added that it has become increasingly difficult for bus drivers to report stop-arm violators since the state removed the requirement in 2020 for most vehicles to have a front license plate.

Green said the district had the cameras installed on all 16 of its buses. She said the original invoice from AngelTrax, the company that sold the cameras to the district, listed a cost of $19,539. A grant Niles City Schools received from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation covered $14,654 of the price. The district paid $4,884 out of pocket.

“It was not an extreme purchase with the grant involved,” Green said.

Green said that as of the week of Oct. 29, she will be sending all information available regarding the stop-arm violations to Niles police. She is hoping increased awareness about the stop-arm cameras, as well as Ohio law, will encourage all Niles drivers to stop for her buses.

“The word is getting around just off Facebook and our school webpage and I think its making a difference,” she said. “We’re also sending information out on Facebook showing the laws, such as when and where you actually have to stop for the bus.”

As for district bus drivers like Wilson, she said she is hoping that with increased notoriety of Ohio laws and the new bus cameras, drivers in the city will be more aware and engaged when approaching a bus with its stoparm out and light flashing.

“I hope it would open up their eyes. It’s a child’s life,” she said. “That’s why the stop signs are on the bus corners, it’s why we have red lights. It’s for a reason.”