LATROBE, Pa. — According to school bus drivers, people in Latrobe have been ignoring the red lights and stop signs on their buses.
Although the buses have cameras on the interior and exterior, they are unable to pick up license plates when violators are traveling too quickly. But now, the City of Latrobe Police Department is stepping in.
“Nobody is going to leave their home this morning with the intention of hurting a child, and this is what we are trying to alleviate,” Latrobe Police Chief Richard Bosco said. “We don’t want anybody to be scarred — the children, their families or the driver of the vehicle.”
After hearing complaints from school bus drivers, the Latrobe Police Department made an announcement on Friday about a new initiative. They plan to escort school buses during pick up and drop off hours, as well as station officers around popular intersections.
Ken Vogel with DMJ transportation said they’ve had hundreds of drivers ignore their flashing red lights and believe it is all for the same reason.
“It’s all in haste, everybody is in a hurry, and they want to get out and around the bus,” Vogel said.
The current cameras on the buses do not pick up license plates due to the speed of the drivers. Vogel said this keeps them from identifying many of the drivers.
“What I have recoded for 2025 is 30, but that is only the ones drivers are able to capture the registration. There are at least three times that number where the drivers are unable to capture registration,” Vogel said.
Staffing will not be impacted, according to Bosco.
He said this is not an initiative to generate more tickets but to keep an unfortunate situation from happening.
“We want compliance,” Bosco said. “This isn’t about punishing anybody. This is about the safety of the students, the safety of the community, and the safety of the bus drivers, the buses and everything else.”
Bosco said this will take effect indefinitely.
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