SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- It seems obvious, the red sign and flashing lights mean stop. But drivers don't always pay attention and the consequences can be deadly. In 2004, a seven-year-old in Munnnsville was hit by a car while she was getting off her bus.

"We're seeing an increase in motorists passing buses including a frightening increase of motorists passing the bus on the right side where the children get off the bus," said Peter F. Mannella, the Executive Director of the New York Association of Pupil Transportation.

On this 13th annual Operation Safe Stop Day, the Syracuse City School District unveiled a bus equipped with a mobile license plate reader. The device will take pictures and transfer images to the police. Violators will face hundreds of dollars in fines and possible jail time.

"Passing a school bus when it is stopped is illegal. And when those red lights are going you should not pass that school bus," said Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner David Swarts.

The mobile plate hunter technology is not new. In fact, it is being used in law enforcement agencies throughout the state. But this will be the first time it's used on a school bus anywhere in the country.

"It feels great to be chosen and at the forefront of all the safety that there is available to the school bus industry in the nation," said Syracuse Schools Transportation Director Pat Bailey.

But the district said it feels even better knowing the 14,000 students who ride their buses everyday will be even safer.

The mobile license plate reader was provided by a grant from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.