David Hale's bus safety measure becomes law

Frankfort, Kentucky (April 10, 2026) – Legislation, sponsored by Representative David Hale of Wellington, that will improve safety for Kentucky children entering and exiting school buses was received by the secretary of state from the governor and will now become law. House Bill 7 will allow school districts to use camera monitoring systems on school buses to enforce a civil penalty against cars that are recorded passing a school bus with a deployed stop arm and allow school districts to contract with a private vendor or manufacturer to install, operate, and maintain the camera monitoring systems.

“After working for many sessions to get this school bus safety legislation across the finish line, I am proud to see it become law this session,” said Hale. “While passing a school bus with a deployed stop arm is illegal, we continue to hear far too many instances of this dangerous behavior happening across the Commonwealth. House Bill 7 becoming law is a significant step forward in protecting Kentucky children getting on and off school buses and holding drivers accountable who fail to follow the law.”

Under HB 7, stop arm camera violations can be enforced by a law enforcement agency, a certified peace officer, or school resource officer upon review of the recorded images produced by the camera monitoring system. Importantly, several safeguards are in place to protect drivers’ privacy, such as allowing cameras to record only when a stop arm is deployed, limiting access to recorded images to authorized personnel for the purpose of enforcing stop arm camera violations, and creating a process and timeline to destroy recorded images.

Violations will result in a civil penalty of $300 for the first offense and $500 for each subsequent offense issued to an owner of the vehicle within a three-year period with no points being assessed against the individual’s driving record. Vehicle owners who believe they were wrongly cited can contest the violation in district court. If a stop arm camera violation civil penalty is not paid or contested within 60 days, the applicable law enforcement agency or officer can notify the Transportation Cabinet of the nonpayment. Upon notice of nonpayment, the cabinet must send a notice of suspension and suspend the registration of the motor vehicle until the civil penalty is paid.

“Ultimately, our goal is to reduce the number of illegal school bus passing incidents statewide and improve safety for children as they enter and exit school buses,” Hale added.

According to the Kentucky Constitution, legislation, unless it is a general appropriations bill or contains an emergency or special effective date, will take effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns. This measure will take effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns. For more information on HB 7, please click here or visit legislature.ky.gov.