Bensalem Police Defend School Bus Safety Program

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —The Bensalem Township Police Department is backing its school bus safety stop arm program after recent media reports questioned the effectiveness of such programs in the state.

The unnamed article states that “it’s rare that students are hurt or killed as a result of drivers illegally passing school buses,” the police department said in a press release.

"Just one injured or dead student is too many for the Bensalem Township Police Department and the Bensalem Township School District," police said.

Police shared their real-time data so parents of children who attend township schools

Since the program began on Aug. 29, 2022, police said that they have issued 4,287 civil violations to owners of vehicles that have failed to stop for school bus stop arms and red lights.

From August 2022 thru the end of December 2022, we were averaging 35 violations per school day.

“This was a shocking number that none of us anticipated but clearly identified this as a public safety concern,” Director of Public Safety William McVey said.

McVey said the effectiveness of this program is already apparent. And he said the results speak for themselves.

In the first three months of this year, the average number of violations has dropped 32 percent to 24 violations per school day, McVey said.

"These numbers continue to trend downward. The goal of this program is to change driver behavior and reduce the number of school bus violations," McVey said.

In late February, the police department announced that it would crack down further on school bus violators.

At that time, police said that if an officer stops and issues a state citation for the violation, motorists will be subject to 5 points on a driver's license, a 60-day driver's license suspension, and a $250 fine upon conviction.

On Tuesday, McVey said the police department will continue to issue civil violations for every vehicle that fails to stop for a school bus with a stop arm deployed and we will do it on every road in the township.

"It is our job to uphold the laws of this Commonwealth," McVey said. "The statistics prove that this program is reducing the chance that another family has to grieve the death or serious injury of their child while attending Bensalem Township schools."