After successful tests, more Osceola County school buses to receive radar sensors
BY Jerry Hume
Transportation leaders at the School District of Osceola County are looking to add more radar sensors to school buses to help prevent students from being run over or left on the bus.
“With this sensor, I mean, they catch any breathing person,” said Osceola County school bus driver David Molina.
The sensors were developed by Smart Radar System, a Korean company that also has offices in Osceola County’s Neocity.
CEO Paul Kim said there are 17 sensors inside each system to keep students from being left behind on the bus at the end of the school day.
“It detects the vital signs of the kids remotely, and then figuring out the movement," Kim said. "That's how we detect kids on the bus or under the bench as well."
Two of Osceola County’s buses were initially equipped with the sensors — the first time a sensor like this has been used on a school bus — and Kim said the testing worked well enough for the Florida Department of Education to officially approve their use.
“We didn't find any flaws in our radars, and the drivers were happy,” said Kim.
Now, the Smart Radar System is production-ready.
“Osceola would be the first one to have this solution," Kim said. "No other school district has this kind of solution."
Randy Wheeler, the district’s director of transportation, said he hopes to install the radar in a half dozen more buses in the next few months.
“We can't do all of the buses at first," he said. "But we would like, over time, to do a phased approach so that someday in the future, all of our buses will be equipped with this important technology."
Along with the system's ability inside the bus, outside, the sensors can detect if a child is next to or in front of the school bus. The sensors will send a visual and audio alarm to the bus driver if a student gets too close.
In addition, the sensors can alert the driver if someone is under the bus.
Last year in Orange County, a 9-year-old was killed after going under his school bus to retrieve a football.
“The undercarriage, I always refer to that is the ultimate blind spot for the driver,” said Wheeler. “The Smart Radar System actually can help with that.”
The School District of Osceola County approached Smart Radar System to use the military radar application for school buses.
While experts say riding a bus is statistically one of the safest ways to get to school, students are more vulnerable when getting on and off the bus. Information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that 128 people were killed nationwide in school bus-related crashes in 2023, the most current year that data was available.
Wheeler said Osceola County has a four-tiered approach to use the latest technology, to keep students safe:
- Enhanced visibility of buses with illuminated markings on stop arms on the side of buses
- The Smart Radar System pedestrian detection program
- The early warning system to alert students if a vehicle doesn’t stop for a stopped school bus
- A stop arm infraction detection program that will issue citations for drivers who don’t stop for a school bus when its stop arm is out
https://mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2025/08/06/osceola-schools-to-add-more-radar-sensors-to-buses