HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. -- Soon red lights may not be the only place you'll see cameras on Florida roads.
Under a bill that advanced through a Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday, cameras would be placed on the side of school buses, ticketing drivers who don't stop.
"We don't have time to write the plate number down. It's awfully hard to see it and write it down," said Hillsborough County school bus driver Keith Bakalyar.
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According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 8,900 cars illegally pass school buses every day. Nationally, 27 people per year die in school bus crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"It could definitely be fatal. These kids, they don't listen. They just run off the bus," said parent Traci Klein.
Sen. Oscar Braynon (D-Miami-Dade), who introduced the bill, hopes it will change the habits of drivers. Just like red light cameras, the school bus cameras would take a picture of a driver's license plate, then send them a picture in the mail.
"It's a stop sign. It's not on unless a bus driver opens it, so it's not big brother watching you, it's a school bus driver watching you with the assistance of a camera," Braynon explained.
Violators would be hit with a $265 fine.
The biggest question may be funding. One option is for the camera company to install them for free, then take a cut of the money collected.
Another possibility is for school districts to buy all the cameras themselves.
Even though the Senate version of the bill advanced on Tuesday, the House version has yet to be taken up this legislative session.