Drivers Keep Running School Bus Stop Signs — Cameras Are Watching

The most dangerous moment on a school bus route is not the ride. It is the stop, when the red lights flash, the stop arm is out, and a driver in a hurry decides the rules do not apply. We dig into a Michigan district rolling out stop-arm cameras and why the “AI cameras” headline is more hype than reality. What matters is the mechanism: cameras that activate with the reds, document violations, and capture plates so enforcement is based on evidence, not guesswork. If you care about school bus safety, student crossings, and preventing stop-arm violations, this is the kind of practical tech that can change behavior.

We also talk about the money side that nobody loves but every transportation department has to face. Outward-facing and interior bus cameras can improve safety and accountability, yet upgrades compete with other priorities like replacing aging buses. Cloud video sounds great until you price out subscriptions and year-round costs that districts pay even when school is closed for summer. We share the real-world tradeoffs drivers see, including how manual video retrieval creates extra work for dispatch and how better systems can save time and stress.

Then the conversation takes a hard turn into a viral story out of Michigan: allegations of professional misconduct involving school employees on a school bus in a public parking lot. No students were reportedly on the bus, but the ethics are still brutal, and it raises big questions about judgment, boundaries, and what “school-related spaces” should always represent. We also touch on how fast a phone video can spread and why privacy in public is basically gone.

If you have thoughts on stop-arm camera enforcement, bus surveillance, or what districts should prioritize, listen and join the conversation. Subscribe, share the show with a fellow driver or parent, and leave us a review so more people find School Bus Banter.

“These are our stories from the driver’s seat—our opinions only, not our  employer’s or school district’s. Student safety and privacy always come first, so no names, faces, routes, or ‘you know that kid’ details ever make it on the podcast.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:24

You're listening to School Bus Banter episode 12. Hey Jerry, got an article to talk about today?

SPEAKER_02 0:30

I got lots of articles. How has your week been?

SPEAKER_04 0:33

Week's going good, getting ready for spring break.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

I know. What did you what did you say uh before? Oh no, that doesn't matter because this comes out after the other one. So it'll be less days. So when will so this so this will come out this will come out the week of spring break.

SPEAKER_04 0:50

The week of. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

So we're already be we'll be sleeping in.

SPEAKER_04 0:55

Yeah? Fuck.

Stop-Arm Cameras Aren’t Really AI

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Yeah. Yes. Sorry. That was a little hard F there. But um, okay, uh, business email, schoolbusbanter, gmail.com, Facebook group, join it. Don't be a douche. And our phone number is 757-529-1574. That's 757-529-1574. Go send us a text or a message or whatever you want. So this is the School Bus Banter News Edition, and we're going to talk about two news articles that we kind of found that were interesting uh in the community and uh in the area. So surprisingly, there's not a lot of news that happens uh for busing because I Googled it and then I'm like, okay, there's some, but a lot of it is about what we're talking about here is a district in Grand Rapids has installed now. They say AI cameras on the school bus to catch drivers who don't stop for flashing lights or stop arms.

SPEAKER_04 1:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

So I dug into the article a little bit. It's it's not AI. I honestly think that this news source put that in there for clickbait because I was looking at the local Reddit about this, and they were like, oh, worried about the AI, and like this is not AI. We have this in our current buses. Well, the newer buses do. Um, the cameras, and it it's it's it's a stop arm camera, and basically what it does when you initiate your reds, that camera starts recording, and when you stop, the camera stops recording. And if someone runs your your reds, it takes a picture of the front of the car uh with a front camera and then it gets the plate on the back end, um, which I think is great. But this district just installed them on all their buses. I don't know where they got the money from.

SPEAKER_04 2:45

Yeah, that's what I was looking for.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

Yeah, I couldn't find it. Oh, was it a grant?

SPEAKER_04 2:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Okay. Um, so I think they're putting it on like 135 buses.

SPEAKER_04 3:02

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Which is expensive. And apparently this district did not have inside bus. They put cameras on the inside too. I'm like, y'all been driving around in 2026 without cameras inside your bus? Yeah, no kidding. I will I would never drive for a district that did not. I mean, obviously when I started, I started in the technology age, and I know with Joe, uh, I think you've been driving for like 10 years, which is still somewhat techie, but you know, I'm 14. 13, I'm sorry. Just like how old you are, right? Um, not 13. That's not what I meant. Like you always exaggerate how old you are, or how young you are, I should say. I'm sorry. But uh um, yeah, we we just had a great interview with uh well, you've already heard it, but anyways, we're a little giddy. But um I would never drive a school bus. Like if I went to a d different district and they didn't have cameras, I'm like, I ain't doing it.

SPEAKER_04 3:54

Yeah. There's no there's no sense for that.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

You you're the same way. I mean, I know you're a great driver and you have great kids, but you go to a different district, you don't know what you're getting.

SPEAKER_04 4:04

The world's best driver, according to my kids, with certificates.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

But no, not the world, the universe.

Violations Stats And Ticket Deterrence

SPEAKER_04 4:10

The universe. When we receive a new bus, uh, sometimes we're able to take it out, you know, for our runs, but they don't they're not radio or video ready. And I have a hard time with that. I'll take it a couple of times, but no, no, I'll just wait. I'll just wait until uh cameras are installed.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Right. Um, so so it talks about the uh this is in Michigan, and it talks about how important it is to stop, which we all know. And in 2024, 54 crashes occurred at the school bus stop where lights and stop arms were activated. This is in Michigan. Those crashes resulted in 26 injuries and one fatality, which honestly, that seems very low. Doesn't it?

SPEAKER_04 5:02

So that does seem low because I write up red light runners weekly. Let me maybe every I'm gonna sneeze again. Maybe every seven, eight days I'm filling out a form.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Right. Well, this is this is in reference to it accidents, so but it still seems low.

SPEAKER_04 5:21

Yes, but it does I have not had an accident.

SPEAKER_02 5:23

But it does say in the statistics in Michigan, an estimated 2,200 vehicles pass stop school buses every day. So with red's on 2,200 per day.

SPEAKER_04 5:35

All on my route.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

All the goddamn time. That adds up to over 400,000 violations a year. Um, right now in Michigan, state law requires driver to stop at least 20 feet from a school bus when the overhead lights are flashing red. Drivers who pass stop school buses may be charged with a civil infraction up to$500, with penalties increased to one year or a thousand dollar misdemeanor if they cause an injury violating or a violation resulting in death carries a felony of 15 years and$7,500. So, I mean, this is great. I wish all our buses had it. One thing I did think so that was interesting, I actually highlighted this. This is not about issuing tickets, he said. It's about saving lives in communities where programs like this are active. Nine out of ten drivers who receive a citation never re-offend.

SPEAKER_04 6:25

That's amazing because we never get follow-up. Like I'll write these, you know, forms up until I'm blue in the face, but I never know what happens to them after I bring them in. They get faxed over. I'm pretty confident that our dispatchers fax them over. They have to go to either one district or another district because we kind of overlap another district, but uh I have I have many that run my reds, and I think if you just go right with the$500 ticket, they'll never do it again.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Yeah, well, obviously it says nine out of ten, don't re-offend because it's that's expensive. I mean, no one's got an extra five hundred dollars just to pay for a ticket because you are in a too much of a fucking hurry.

SPEAKER_04 7:06

Yeah, killing a kid's more expensive, so it's I have crossers all the time, and there's no excuse. And do they teach this in driver's training? How much bus information do they get in driver's training? Because that's where it starts, right? It starts man.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

It's tough for me to remember because I'm old as hell, but I don't remember any of it. Mine was done at the public school. I know my daughter went to a local place. Um, you know, it's all privatized now, but I I probably not as much as they probably should.

SPEAKER_04 7:35

Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

Um, but it is frustrating. So I'm glad they did this in this city. Um, I wish we we could get it in ours. I don't know. Again, I I it probably was a grant, but yeah, I mean the school's not having to pay for it, but I I really wish we would get all all our buses like that.

SPEAKER_04 7:53

It says um both sets of camera systems are provided at no cost to the district.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Yeah, that's all it says. It doesn't say how they got it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:03

Which is probably good, good for them. I hope it gets passed down to all the districts.

Tech Costs Cloud Video Tradeoffs

SPEAKER_02 8:09

Yeah, I mean, this is a a little bit of a lower income area, so maybe that played a role into it, which is great. Like, I think they should have them. I just kind of wish we did. I'm kind I'm actually kind of jealous, honestly, that we don't have it because I think it's important. Um, it is still kind of a pain for our dispatcher, though, because we you know you talked about you were at that um that other district and really excited about their tablets, which are great. And and and one thing that I feel like our district doesn't spend a lot on is technology with the buses. Like I feel like um again, we get three new buses, and me personally, since I know my route, I don't need any tech, I can do it just fine with the radio that I have and the steering wheel. Um, I would rather get new buses, but I would I would like cameras and everything. Like I think that's super important. But what I was saying is the dispatcher, there is no like cloud recording, so she has to go out to the bus, pull the tape, the hard drive, bring it in, so it's a pain in the ass. Um, and not to say she doesn't do it, it's just I just wish it was easier for her to be like click, click, click, click, click, click, done.

SPEAKER_04 9:16

There's districts that pull in and it's automatically downloaded.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 9:22

They can just pull into the parking spot where there's no running for a uh uh you know physical tape. Yeah, it's out there. It like you said, what's the trade-off? We get new buses or we get tech. Um, I think it's it'll come, it's just gonna take a little bit.

Misconduct On A School Bus

SPEAKER_02 9:36

Well, I think the problem is, especially with that that cloud recording and stuff like that, that's a subscription thing that's every year. Like you buy a bus and that's it, you pay cash for it, that's your purchase. I mean, obviously you got to maintain it, but that's gonna happen regardless of how you get the bus. But this stuff is like a subscription base, so it's like even in the summer, you're paying, you know, five grand a month to get that stuff, and the district's like, yeah, it's kind of a waste of money, which in my opinion, too. They I can't believe they don't offer some sort of discount of like, hey, we don't run in the summer. Can we, you know, get on get on a plan that uh you know that saves us a little money? So um, I mean technology is important, and it for me, again, I I want the cameras on the outside, I think it leads to more safety. I don't think the tablets in the buses really lead to any kind of safety, so I I could do without them, but give me the cameras. Right. The next article, and I think Joe didn't want to talk about this one, and I are we talking about this one? Oh, we're talking about it. Um well, so I I need some clarification because so this also is in Michigan too. Uh, two employees with uh the McComb Intermediate School this are under investigation following allegations of professional misconduct on a school district bus. Video of the incident, which reportedly occurred on the school bus, have circulated widely on social media. I have it right here for you, Joe. No, I'm just kidding. Um, so so what's floating around? So is this where they were boning?

SPEAKER_04 11:07

I'm behind on where I can find my article on my phone, but it was on the news. I did watch the news article. Or I did, yeah, I did watch it on the news, and they said that they were gonna have to gray out the whole front part of the bus. No, you can still, yeah, but from from the video that I saw, you can still see movement of what was going on with two employees. I got it.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

You got it. Hold on. Oh, give me a second. Well, a couple of school employees in Macomb County in some serious trouble tonight, appearing to be engaged in some X-rated activities on a school bus. Fox News Jessica Dupneck is here, and this all got found out because of some cell phone video, Jessica.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Yeah, we had to watch that raw cell phone video a few times, and Rupe, I was really hoping that maybe they were just cleaning something off of the seats, but upon further review, it really doesn't look like it. Now, for everyone's sake, we did use the blur tool pretty heavy here tonight. Uh while we can't show you that. We did talk to the woman, the really stunned mom that witnessed this all. Ever seen anything like this? In movies. Yeah, the X-rated kind. Look at the bus. What do you see?

SPEAKER_01 12:22

An intense motion. Um, at first I thought it was just cleaning the seats, but the motion just continued.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

When the bus is a rockin', don't come knocking. I'm an adult, so kind of put two and two together. The wheels on the bus go round and round and apparently up and down. I grabbed that just to have proof that what I'm seeing is what I'm seeing. We'll call this mom Katie. She was at the Chesterfield Township Walmart this week when she saw what appears to be two school employees engaged in some extracurricular activities. Boom. No, that's uh it was pointly in the front parking lot. A little lesson on the birds and the bees over lunch. Katie knew she had to report it to Macomb Intermediate School District. That's just it's very disturbing. Thankfully, no kids were on the bus. And the district says the two employees were put on leave, now being investigated for potential, quote, professional misconduct.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

What if my kids rode that bus? I wouldn't be aware of what's going on on that bus.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

All of that shock and awe aside, the district says they are taking this investigation very seriously. They added in a statement out to families that they do plan to make sure all school-related spaces are safe for the kids. Reporting live in the newsroom, Jessica Dupak, Fox Two News.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

That's so disturbing. It's taxpayers' money. Those that's a safe place for kids to feel like they have a clean place to sit and be, uh, safe in that area. Any indication that this may have happened before, or they think this is an isolated incident?

SPEAKER_02 14:06

Oh, they've been banging for years.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

It's a really good question, but you look at it, Roop. I mean, they were parked right in the middle of Walmart. We were out there today. It's of course a busy Walmart. They definitely didn't have any shame. You can look at it as maybe this wasn't a first time, but that would of course be speculation. Thankfully, though, no kids were on the bus.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

Yeah, that is the best part of all. Jessica Duke Bank Force Live tonight. Oh my God.

SPEAKER_04 14:29

I like Jessica there. She had to watch the video a couple of times.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

I think Jessica wants to be on that bus. She was a little too excited about that video.

SPEAKER_04 14:38

Oh my god, that is funny. So okay, what were they thinking though? They weren't even hiding.

SPEAKER_02 14:46

I know, like, first of all, ew. Second of all, like, I get like, okay, maybe it was the heat of passion, but you you you were hired to drive kids, right? So you must have some semblance of a brain to know that you're at a Walmart and you're right in the front. Figure it out.

SPEAKER_04 15:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

Like go on a seat. Like, yeah, it's already gonna be uncomfortable. Like, just figure it out. Like they were standing, like, I think I honestly think no, it was hard to the blurred part, but I I honestly think she was bent over right over that seat and he was just right there.

SPEAKER_04 15:33

I I don't know, that's a funny one.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

I don't think they had any discretion, like oh, I you know, other than the fact that that's so gross, like, come on, dude.

SPEAKER_04 15:45

Yeah, our buses are. I mean, I try and keep it as clean as I can, but not for naked bodies.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

Well, no, I mean, it's it's just gross. Like, I've you know, we've all been in the heat of passion at some point in our life, but I've never said, hey, let's go do it on a school bus. Like, even if I had access to it, I would be like, no, that is disgusting. And and who how do they not have any like, okay, you're comfortable with your body and your sexuality, but do you don't have a little shame? Like, I we should probably hide this a little bit. I mean, I mean, okay, you don't care about the kids on the bus. We got that. But what about everyone else that had to witness your fucking ass hanging out there?

SPEAKER_04 16:27

I love that there's there's just there's camps. Somebody's gonna record you doing anything now.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

There is anything zero expectation of privacy now, especially there. They're in a they're in a they're in a parking lot, like they don't even get privacy. Like you, you're not on even like a private, you know, like at someone's house with the bus there.

SPEAKER_04 16:46

Like you no Maybe they thought the windows were tinted enough.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

I mean, they are kind of in the back, at least ours are. It's hard to see in there. I mean, but you can still see like shadows and stuff like that, but not not in the front. The front's very clear.

SPEAKER_04 17:02

Oh, yeah, that's that's disturbing.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

That's disturbing, and I hope I ever never witness that again, but I my guess is we probably will. Hopefully, not in our district. So anything else, Joe?

SPEAKER_04 17:16

No, thanks for talking a lot.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_04 17:20

I had stories, but I didn't have much on the videos.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

Oh, you mean for the other episode?

SPEAKER_04 17:25

Yeah. Yeah, I I don't mind.

A Quick Talk On Student Slang

SPEAKER_02 17:27

I'm I'm I'm used to doing the news because that's what I do on my other show, so I'm comfortable like just uh rampant on that. Do you know what a femboy is?

SPEAKER_04 17:39

I'm just gonna assume, yeah, that it is just like that what it sounds like.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Well, yeah, it's a s I and and I kind of assume too, but I looked it up. It's a slang term for a person typically assigned male at birth who expresses themselves through a traditionally feminine aesthetic. That's all it is. It's not that big of a deal. But that kid not knowing um what it was, I'm not surprised he's in second grade, so and that's where we need to start. Well, I mean, you know, I think Brian did a good job of just like nipping it right there, like especially if you don't I mean it's it's bad enough that you said it, but it would be worse if he knew what it was and and called him that. You know what I mean? Then then then you're really deep in he's up me, you know, he needs some extra don't ever do that again shit.

SPEAKER_04 18:29

Thanks for listening, everybody. We'll see you next time. As always, same bus, same kids, different stories.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

And remember, just say ten four.