Keeping children safe is a priority for every school system, and the Cullman County School System is making sure kids are safer than ever with 15 new buses that just entered service.

The new buses — which ran their first routes on Friday — came with a collision mitigation system, an extra stop sign that extends near the back of the bus and high definition cameras that are designed to catch people who pass buses when they are stopped, said Cullman County Schools Transportation Director Jeff Harper.

He said the new collision mitigation system is the most advanced system that the state allows school buses to have, and it gives a warning if the bus is following a car too closely or is cut off by a car, and can even apply the brakes if necessary.

Harper said Cullman County is the only school system in Alabama that has this new system, and it has already helped keep someone safe before the buses even entered service.

He said the buses are purchased from a plant in Oklahoma and are driven to Alabama, and collision mitigation system helped one of the drivers avoid a crash during the drive after a car cut her off.

“She would not have had time to get on the brakes,” he said.

Along with collision mitigation, the new system also includes stability control that can apply brakes to each tire to help make sure the bus stays stays safe during hazardous conditions, Harper said. 

“The system is meant to work hand-in-hand with the driver,” he said. “We don’t want to replace the driver, but it’s nice to know that you have that if things went badly.”

The new buses also come with another new safety feature that is simple but effective: an extra stop sign that extends at the back of the bus.

The stop sign that is already installed on school buses is not visible if a car is following too close or if the bus is on some of the hills and curvy roads throughout the county, so the extra sign just makes sure that people are able to easily see that the bus is stopping for children, Harper said.

“Now, you’re not going to miss seeing that stop sign,” he said. 

Harper said the Baldwin County School System has the extra stop sign installed on all of its buses, and that is how he got the idea to add them to Cullman County’s.

He said the installation of the additional stop signs only added around $250 to the costs of the new buses, and that is a small price to pay to help keep kids safe.

“It’s a no-brainer,” he said. “That’s nothing when you’re talking about the safety of a child.”

Cameras were already installed on the outside of all of the system’s buses last year, and the 15 new buses have them to make sure people are not passing them when children are loading or unloading.

Harper said illegal passings are on the forefront of many peoples’ minds after three children were recently killed at a bus stop in Indiana, and with the county’s 109 school buses traveling around 4,300 miles each day, the dangers are high here.

“Illegal passings have become a national problem,” he said. “We cannot afford to have people passing these school buses.”

Every year, the state picks a day to have each school system count the number of illegal passings, and the most recent total was 1,742 illegal passings across the state in that one day, Harper said.

With the cameras installed and able to take pictures of the license plates of any vehicle that pass a bus while it is at a stop, the school system is working with the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office to begin sending the information to deputies who can track those people down, he said.

“We’re going to do everything we can to stop that,” he said.

Cullman County Schools are on the cutting-edge of school bus safety, and all of the safety features and new buses are approved by the members of the Cullman County School Board and Superintendent Shane Barnette, who place the safety of the county’s students as a top priority, Harper said.

“If it wasn’t for them, this wouldn’t be here,” he said. “Our board and our superintendent fervently believe that safety is important.”