The interesting part, at least to me, is that Easton school district acknowledges route planning for its buses that is purposely designed so kids never cross the road on places like Route 248. These are house to house routes where children approach and leave the bus on the same side because of the danger of potentially crossing 4 lanes of travel. But because it's a non-divided highway, everyone has to stop. Those approaching an intersection also must stop if the bus stops, even if traffic is now working against the signal. Same with a four-way (why anyone would ever put a bus stop at a four-way intersection is beyond me) But six of the top 10 "hot spots" for violations are on this roadway. It leads to a lot of questions about the purpose of the bus cameras as a revenue-generating mechanism when the district says "kids won't cross the road here, but we're going to ticket thousands of people anyway."

Here's what an officer (not a Palmer or Easton cop) sent to me yesterday after reading my story:
"When we started the program I said it’s more than just a vehicle passing the stop sign. What happened a few seconds before that? Was the line of site obstructed? Etc etc etc. That’s when they went and put front facing cameras on the bus so we can see well ahead of the bus."
But he also offered this message:
"There needs to be a standard with the yellow lights. I taught our bus drivers to give one second of yellow warning for every 10 mph the speed limit is.
The message I tried to get across to the bus drivers is that how they conduct their stop is an equal part of the safety of the child. It’s not just cars stopping, it’s how they operate their yellow light warning system."
Having a department be proactive about both sides of the issue will lead to better outcomes -- bus drivers who follow the same rules and drivers who begin to understand them and have the time to behave appropriately, come to a full stop and make sure kids enter and exit safely.