From the Harford County Sheriff’s Office:
As the summer comes to a close and our children go back to school, Harford County Sheriff’s Office Deputies are stepping up traffic enforcement efforts to ensure our children’s safety.
It is important to remember, “Back to School” means increased traffic with buses, cars, pedestrians, and bicycles on the road. Throughout the county, deputies will be conducting special traffic enforcement initiatives in an effort to educate motorists on the proper ways to keep our school children safe as they make their way to and from school. Speed Enforcement and Saturation Patrols targeting designated school zones are key focus areas for deputies this week.
These high visibility enforcement efforts are designed to reduce the number of aggressive driving violations that contribute to crashes on Harford’s roads. Deputies and local law enforcement will target dangerous drivers and educate the public through strict traffic enforcement. Sheriff Gahler states, “Our goal is to be a visible reminder to all motorists that speeding and driving while distracted are not a good ways to start the school year.”
Please pay attention to your speed and watch out for the children and crossing guards as well as school buses loading and offloading children at schools and in our neighborhoods. Trying to save a few seconds of your time by passing a school bus while it’s red flashing lights are activated is not only dangerous, but can cost you $570 in fines.
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office and the Harford County Traffic Taskforce continue to support the Maryland Highway Safety Office’s ‘Move Toward Zero Deaths’ campaign.
The Harford County Traffic Task Force is comprised of deputies, troopers, and officers from all law enforcement agencies in the County. The TTF meets one day a week, day and times vary, and conduct aggressive enforcement in high crash areas and those areas that receive multiple complaints.
Try putting some narcs in falls ton high. Too many kids up there dealing drugs.
I’m glad to see Jeff is continuing some of the great initiatives that Sheriff Jesse Bane started. Now Jeff should finish what Jesse started with the Bus Camera Program. That’s If Jeff Gahler truly supports bus safety???
Spoken like the true liberal you are proud to be. No cameras. They don’t save kids, they make money period!
Bus cameras make money? Could you be confusing these with red light cameras?
I see, these private companies care so much about the kids that they developed the camera and giving it out free! That is Jesse Bane’s line for sure. Guess what? They take a percentage of each violation that makes the system profit seeking, the more tickets, the more dollars.
How will cameras make the bus more safe?
Bus cams will do NOTHING about pupil safety. See my post for the particulars.
Well, it will prevent the school from being sued over a second, later incident, so…
Change your name to ‘Proud to Be a Socialist.’ Bus cams are a complete waste of time, money, and resources. I extensively researched bus accidents both in MD and nationally going back 20 years. The stat’s show that there has NEVER been a child hit at a bus stop in the state in at least 20 years. Period. Nationally, the percent of children hit by a motorist is a fraction of one percent of all bus-involved incidents. I so testified before the “We love BIG government” County Council months ago when they faked debating the enabling legislation. Bane was an “empire builder” and a lover of oppressive government. After all, he’s the consummate Demo-Socialist himself.
I could go on about how many executives have gone to federal prison, including the one last week in Chicago, for BRIBERY of local officials in connection with red light and speed cams. There is HUGE money in camming for these less-than-ethical firms who are so willing to erect the cams ‘at no cost to the jurisdiction.’ Yeah …. no kidding.
In short, anyone supporting bus cams is dreaming that it will improve safety. Camming is a “solution in search of a problem” and the facts are out here to support that assessment.
PTBL,
We hardly ever agree but you are absolutely correct. The cameras are for the protection of the students and the driver. And to document and resolve behavioral issues which are worse today than ever on busses. And KottaMan, for the cameras you talk about you are correct but school bus cameras are not for that.
How will the cameras protect the students and driver? What will the cameras protect them from?
@Alex, the cams being referred to are those that snap photos of cars passing a stopped school bus and NOT the cam’s that had already been in place INSIDE buses regarding driver and pupil behavior. The latter cams needed no “authorization” or ordinance for installation and use whereas outside cams for photos of passing cars Do require legislation. The Sheriff would have NO authority or involvement with INside cams other than to take video/stills off of such a cam in the event of an incident inside the bus.
Stepped up enforcement? First day of school, buses along Grafton Shop, kids standing along the road waiting to be picked up and we have a 30 mph speed limit. You’d have never known it. Want to specifically thank the blond lady in the black SUV behind me that sat about 6 inches off my bumper the entire way turning north on 152 and all the while swilling her latte from starbucks…you must be somebody’s prize to expect the rest of the world to speed down the road in a school zone and in front of a school. And no, I saw no cops patrolling anywhere today. Talk is cheap.
I’m glad The Money Tree says is so interested in what is going on behind the car and not out in front where they should be looking. If you don’t like someone tail gating you speed up or pull over and let them pass. Stop being the aggressive driver by riding your brakes.
You could always pump the e brake and get free body work / fake an injury. Get money.
On Grafton Shop honey? Really where is someone supposed to pull over? Frankly even if I could have I wouldn’t. Certainly not in front of a school with no where to pull over do I speed up exceeding the posted allowance so I get ticketed or to allow the moron behind me to run over kids.
What a moron you are None. I suppose you got your name because of the answer to the question “How much sense do you have?” Pull over? Speed up? Get your head out.
I’m sorry you didn’t see the extra enforcement on your drive. I certainly noticed an above average number of cars pulled over yesterday as I made my rounds. They can’t be everywhere all the time.
I didn’t see sh1t!
It always seems like a joke to run “traffic” around a school the week before kids start going, when the reality is people will just pump the brakes and get tickets/warnings that day and proceed to drive like assholes the rest of the year, regardless.
Certainly not to put it quite as crudely as you have but there is some irony to talking about being out there enforcing the law, speed limits and such for safety’s sake and then suggesting now we need to do this…for one week? Either posted speed limits are created for safety 365 days a year or not and if it’s not important to have them or make minimal effort to enforce them except for one week out of the year why not quit the charade and just tell everybody to continue what they’re already doing. That would be tailgating, exceeding the speed limit through neighborhoods, flashing lights at drivers, cutting people off and all manner of incivil and dangerous behaviors most of which fall under the category of “aggressive driving”.
Its crude because that’s what it is.
Traffic is worse when school is in session, all the groupies speeding their kids to school half asleep at the wheel going 15 over the speed limit.
Why are the cheese wagons only equipped with the yeller/red blinkers, stop sign with red blinkers and that piece of metal that extends out like a hardon from the front bumper?
Why don’t Harford Transit/Link and other bussees have this? #AllLivesMatter?
The cheese wagons are equipped with those tools because Maryland rules wouldn’t let them have AK 47s.