School bus cameras are catching more stop-arm violators in Eden Prairie

Cameras mounted on all 102 Eden Prairie school district-owned buses are responsible for a surge in school bus stop-arm violations reported to Eden Prairie Police since September 2023, according to city data.

Since September 2023, police have recorded 65 violations compared to 29 during the entire 2021-22 school year. Bus camera installation was completed in the spring of 2023 thanks to a $53,000 grant received from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Located just in front of the flashing-red stop arms, the camera automatically activates when the arms deploy, recording high-definition video from both directions.

Bus drivers have a button to push that marks a position on the video, making it easier for school officials to review, said Randy Haar, the Eden Prairie Schools transportation director. Evidence from the videos is sent to the Eden Prairie Police Department for a decision to issue a citation to the car’s owner or the driver if they are able to be identified.

Drivers violating the stop-arm law are guilty of a misdemeanor if they fail to stop a vehicle and keep it stopped at least 20 feet away from a bus. State law requires a minimum $500 fine. Additionally, it is a gross misdemeanor for drivers to fail to stop for a school bus, to pass or attempt to pass a school bus on the right-hand side, or to pass a school bus when a child is directly outside the bus and on the street or adjacent sidewalk used by the bus.

EPPD Sgt. Tom Lowery suggested that, even with cameras, many violators are never caught, often because bus drivers are more focused on the safety of the students entering or leaving their bus.

“In Minnesota, we can cite the owner of the car as long as we’re able to confirm that the plate matches the make and model (that) we see on the video,” Lowery said. “If we wanted to charge the driver, we would have to be able to identify the driver (on the video).”

Lowery attributed many of the violations to distracted driving, others to aggressive driving, and some to confusion about the law.

Four-lane roads often account for some driver confusion, Lowery said. Drivers must stop in both directions on four-lane, undivided roadways such as Baker Road. But whenever there is a median dividing the road, such as Valley View Road, drivers on the opposite side of the road do not need to stop, he added.

A 2023 National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services one-day survey of more than 95,000 bus drivers across the country estimated 242,000 vehicles illegally passed school buses. That equates to more than 20 million each year.

A total of 3,231 Minnesota bus drivers reported 527 illegal passes in the survey.

Safety first

Eden Prairie Schools does not allow students to cross any four-lane road and, with few exceptions, does not have stops on four-lane, undivided roads, according to Haar.

Students are allowed to cross some residential streets and are trained every school year on how to do it safely.

“Obviously, safety is our No. 1 priority here at Eden Prairie Schools,” Haar said. “The No. 1 responsibility of the drivers is to make sure that the students are safe getting on and off the bus during that transition period and stop-arm violations are secondary to that.” 

While Eden Prairie has not experienced a serious accident involving a stop-arm violation, a 17-year-old student was injured in a 2020 incident in Edina when a driver passed a school bus on the right.

“We haven’t had a close call,” Haar said. “(At) a lot of our stops, we don’t allow the students to cross the street. We have additional safety protocols in place. So we remove that ability.

“There are areas where the students do cross the street. We train the students. The proper procedure is for the driver to motion for them, to give them a hand signal that it’s safe to cross. So we’re using multiple protocols to make sure that the students are safe.”

Bus drivers also use a stop arm that prevents students from crossing too close to the front of the bus, which allows the drivers to see them the entire time.

High-traffic and higher-speed areas are the most dangerous, Haar said. As an example, Haar mentioned Commonwealth Road, which runs in front of Fountain Place Apartments.

“(There’s) just such a high amount of traffic there,” he said. “At least in a lot of our experiences, people (there) are in a hurry,” and they become distracted.

For that reason, routes are set up so that students do not cross Commonwealth Road, he said.

‘It happens so quick’

Nothing makes Dan Hoffstrom happier than seeing happy, smiling students board his school bus every morning, and then safely exiting when they are dropped off at the end of the day.

He also appreciates the camera attached to the side of his bus that occasionally catches drivers who put his kids in danger.

“Sometimes (violations) just happen so quick in those busy traffic areas,” he said. “We’re focused on making sure the kids are getting off safely. Sometimes we don’t necessarily see (a stop-arm violation) right away. That’s where the camera really helps us.”

Hoffstrom agrees with Lowery that many violations are the result of drivers not paying close enough attention. “I would say that more than 50% are distracted driving,” he said.

He thinks the bus lights also can create some confusion. “Our lights go from yellow to red,” he said. Bus drivers turn the yellow warning lights on well in advance of the stop to warn motorists that a stop is about to happen.

“They go to red as soon as we open the door,” he said. Some people treat yellow bus lights the same way they treat street lights. “They think they’re going to hurry and get through before it turns red,” he said. “A lot of times, people speed up; they want to beat it.”

Hoffstrom said bus drivers try to make eye contact with drivers. “We’re not just flipping the switch right away,” he said. “We’re looking to see what’s coming.”

He has also observed that there aren’t as many violations in the morning because motorists see kids congregating at the stop. “When we’re unloading, there’s nobody there and (drivers) are not necessarily paying attention sometimes,” he said.

Student training is also critical to keeping students safe, Haar said.

“During the first three weeks of school, we go to each elementary school and provide bus safety training,” he said. “We talk about the danger zone of the bus, we talk about proper loading and unloading procedures, and each class comes out to the bus, and we go through all of that safety training with the students themselves.”

In addition, bus drivers go to schools throughout the school year to remind them about bus safety.

Lowery, Haar and Hoffstrom agree on two simple things motorists can do to keep kids safe. “Slow down and pay attention,” bus driver Hoffstrom said.

“We’re a billboard, and then you’ve got the flashing lights,” he said. “We’re pretty easy to see.”