As students return to class this week, News 12 is taking an exclusive look at local efforts to curb an alarming trend that is putting children who ride the school bus at risk.

Officials say that trend is distracted or uninformed drivers illegally passing stopped school buses.

A recently implemented Orange County school bus camera program is hoping to minimize these dangerous instances and has captured more than 3,000 instances since it rolled out in May.

County officials say so far, four school districts in Orange County are participating in the free-to-taxpayer program and that they’re in talks with five others to sign on. Violators are tracked down by license plate numbers and registered vehicle owners are issued tickets by mail, similar to red light cameras, with fines ranging from $250 to $275 for first time or repeat offenses.

County Executive Steve Neuhaus says more than 1,900 tickets have been issued in the past four months and that proceeds are used to fund the program.

Video of some of those incidents was given exclusively to News 12 and in some cases, shows children crossing the street just moments after cars were seen whizzing by. One video shows five vehicles pass a stopped bus on Route 17K in Newburgh while its stop arm was extended.

“It just takes one where we lose a child’s life,” says Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus. “Orange County is taking this very seriously. It’s back-to-school season and we’ve seen in some of the videos, just from our trial over the summer, a lot of close calls.”

News 12 has reported on several instances in Rockland County this past year of children being struck and injured, or killed, while getting off their school bus. Rockland County has recently implemented a similar camera program for its public-school buses.

Officials say in some instances, motorists appear to be unaware that stopped school buses have the right of way if their flashing lights are on, even if the bus is on the opposite side of the road.

“{Most} people that get one of these violations for the first time never do it again and that’s what we are trying to get here,” says Neuhaus. “We want people to be cognizant to drive safely and make sure we’re looking out for our young students.”

State and federal data show thousands of drivers illegally pass school buses each day and that dozens of kids have been killed in the past decade while trying to get on or off their bus.

“Passing a school bus with its red lights flashing and stop arm out is reckless, dangerous, and illegal,” said Alec Slatky, spokesperson for AAA Northeast. “Too many drivers act like they’re the only one who needs to go places. We’re all trying to reach our destinations safely, so slow down, put the phone down, let the kids cross, and we’ll all get where we need to be.”