Those who have spent time behind the wheel of a Montgomery County school bus stand behind a proposal to install safety cameras on them.

Three men who have driven school buses testified Tuesday during a County Council hearing that they support a bill enabling Montgomery County to put safety cameras on school buses to monitor and ticket drivers who illegally pass a stopped bus.

Maryland law prohibits vehicles from passing a stopped bus that is operating its flashing red lights.

Effective October 2011, Maryland authorized local law enforcements agencies to use cameras to enforce that law.

Every day, more than 100,000 students ride a bus in Montgomery County, said Todd Watkins, director of transportation for Montgomery County Public Schools, who added he drives a bus periodically.

He said the cameras have the ability to dramatically change driving behavior and avoid the potential for tragedy that arises when a vehicles passes a stopped bus.

"While there is certainly some amount of general change in driving behavior resulting from cameras in the county, the greatest change is in the immediate vicinity of those cameras," he said. "In this case we seek only to change driving behavior in the immediate vicinity of school buses."

The bill would allow tickets of as much as $250 to be issued by local law enforcement, according to county documents.

In his nearly 21 years behind the wheel of a school bus, Robert Herron said after the hearing that he has seen it all: Drivers who appear not to have noticed the bus had stopped; drivers with a total disregard for the law; and drivers who appear to not know what to do in the situation, some stopping initially then speeding up and driving away.

"People are in a hurry, they don't pay attention," he said.

If he had to estimate, between 25 and 30 percent of those who fail to stop for a bus are on their cell phones.

Erwin Mack, chairman of the Montgomery County Pedestrian, Bicycle and Traffic Safety Advisory Committee, testified that his committee supported the legislation, but during its discussions, believed a safety camera program should include a strong education component, as well as citizen involvement through an advisory committee.

Montgomery College women’s soccer team honored

Winning the National Junior College Athletic Association women’s soccer Division III championship for the first time in Montgomery College history in 2011, was cause for celebration Tuesday during the Montgomery County Council meeting.

Council members Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist.3) of Gaithersburg, Craig L. Rice (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown and Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring presented the MC-Rockville team with a proclamation recognizing its accomplishment.

“Whereas knights are inherently known for being stoic, powerful and steady in their advancement, but Montgomery College’s 2011 lady knights women’s soccer team was a whirling, slashing and dashing collection of attackers and defenders who demonstrated extraordinary talent, hard work and dedication,” Ervin read from the proclamation.

The council congratulated the team on its season.

“We look forward to many more victories in the future,” Ervin said.

A coach is only as good as their team, said coach Kelly Wakeman, who won Junior College National Coach of the Year following the team’s season.

“I’ve been very honored through the last five years to coach some tremendous athletes…” she said. “It’s all blood, sweat and tears that brought us to this point.”