Legislation that would give school districts the option of installing automated cameras on their school bus stop arms intended to detect vehicles that fail to stop when the bus' red lights are flashing won approval by the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday.

But it wasn't without discussion over concerns about how law enforcement might use the recorded images captured by the cameras and how some school districts may not be able to afford to install them on buses.

The measure, sponsored by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Browne, R-Lehigh County, passed the committee by a 12-3 vote, with three Democratic senators casting the negative votes.

Committee Chairman John Rafferty, R-Montgomery County, noted 1.5 million children are transported in school buses each day in Pennsylvania but there are rare occasions where they don't return home safely.

An example of that was 16-year-old sophomore Minete Zeka who was killed trying to get on a school bus in Bensalem in 2014 by an SUV driven by a classmate.

"We know unfortunately some children are needlessly injured or even killed by drivers passing stopped buses that are either in a hurry or they are distracted and not paying attention and the children suffer who are trying to cross the street," Rafferty said.

The law currently gives the school bus drivers 48 hours to report violators who fail to stop when their bus' flashing lights are activated. The problem is, Rafferty said, the responsibilities drivers have in monitoring students on the bus as well as those entering and exiting its doors can prevent them from being able to write down a license plate number.

The legislation calls for imposing a $250 fine for the owner of the vehicle caught on camera as passing a stopped school bus. If the vehicle owner is not the driver, they would be permitted to submit evidence indicating that and requiring them to identify who was behind the wheel.

A portion of money collected from fines would go into a new fund that would be used to increase awareness of school bus safety issues, Rafferty said.

Sen. Larry Farnese, D-Philadelphia, who was among the lawmakers opposing the bill, raised the concern about ambiguity in the bill's language that could allow law enforcement to use the captured images to search for other types of violations such as the driver in a car three vehicles behind the bus not wearing a seat belt.

Rafferty indicated that the bill's sponsor has agreed to work with PennDOT to finetune the legislation to address some unstated concerns the department has. The concern that Farneses raised, he said, will be part of that discussion. But by the committee approving the bill, Rafferty said it enhances the likeliness of those conversations happening.

Pennsylvania law currently requires the following when motorists find themselves traveling near a school bus:

Motorists must stop at least 10 feet away from school buses that have their red lights flashing and stop arm extended.

Motorists must stop when they are behind a bus, meeting the bus or approaching an intersection where a bus is stopped.

Motorists following or traveling alongside a school bus must also stop until the red lights have stopped flashing, the stop arm is withdrawn, and all children have reached safety.

If physical barriers such as grassy medians, guide rails or concrete median barriers separate oncoming traffic from the bus, motorists in the opposing lanes may proceed without stopping.

Do not proceed until all the children have reached a place of safety.

Possible penalties for violating the school bus stopping law include a $250 fine, five points on your driving record and a 60-day license suspension.