According to the Maryland section of the Baltimore Sun, the flashing yellow and red lights, used to stop vehicles when school buses are letting off children, are being ignored more and more often, a violation that could cost up to $570 and three points.  Bus drivers complain that the speed of the guilty drivers prohibits jotting down the tag numbers of the cars.  However, cameras would be able to see the tags.

Legislation before the General Assembly would allow local school systems to mount the electronic enforcement devices on buses to deter what is treated under state law as one of the most serious nonfelony traffic violations a driver can commit.

The bills’ sponsors include Republicans from Maryland’s rural counties, a bloc that has tended to oppose the use of cameras to enforce laws against speeding and running red lights. But passing a stopped school bus is seen as so offensive that it has trumped libertarian ideals for even deeply conservative lawmakers.

A recent survey by the Maryland State Department of Education found that the law is broken more than 7,000 times a day statewide. But statistics from the District Court of Maryland show that only about 1,700 tickets are issued each year for the violation.

Read more here.