In just one month, 560 drivers were caught on camera illegally passing stopped school buses in Shelton, according to data from Shelton Student Transportation Service.

Starting Monday, ignoring a school buses stop sign and flashing red lights will come with a $250 ticket.

“We're lucky, we haven't had a child getting hit by a car,” said Dep. Chief Kevin Stratton.

When school began on Aug. 26, the city’s 68 school buses were all equipped with new stop arm enforcement technology, installed by BusPatrol. The company said a high-definition camera on the side of each bus to takes high-definition pictures of license plates while a fisheye camera on top provides a 180-degree view of vehicles passing illegally from the rear or front of the bus.

“As a parent of school age children myself, it gives me great pride to know that we are protecting, not just a couple of busy bus routes, but the entire fleet of buses here in the city, so every child's journey to and from school is safer day by day,” stated Adam Schaefer, of BusPatrol.

The program has been in a 30-day warning period with violators getting a letter. But on Sept. 29, that becomes a fine.

"Unfortunately, people start to get it when you hit them in their pocketbook, and that's pretty much what this program is designed to do,” said Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti.

Shelton is the third school distract in Connecticut to use BusPatrol's technology, according to Shaefer, who said the system is also up and running in Bridgeport and Danbury, along with other states across the county.

“Over 94% of motorists who receive one of these violations, never offend again, so we know the program works,” Shaefer explained, “and are just really about getting the message out there, ‘Yellow lights, start to slow down. Red lights, stop.’”

Schaefer said the cameras record if the bus’s stop arm is activated, then artificial intelligence technology filters through the video clips looking for illegal passing. He said anything flagged is sent to a team of human reviewers who pass on violations to the police.

“In years past, the bus drivers, if a car is passing the stop sign, they're trying to take time out and write the plate down, and they would try to call the police department,” Stratton shared. “On any given year, maybe 40 plates were given.”

It's something that previously created a lot of stress for bus drivers, according to Frank Scalzo, director of Shelton Student Transportation Service.

“The bus drivers have been ecstatic about this program,” Scalzo said. “They can just worry about what they have to do inside and outside the bus and not worry about that car.”

BusPatrol said the program is funded solely by fines from violators who endanger student safety.