GUELPH – The Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) is asking the province to consider installing stop-arm cameras on school buses after receiving complaints about drivers passing buses illegally.
“A number of trustees have received emails from parents regarding safety concerns at bus stops,” said UGDSB chair Ralf Mesenbrink during the board meeting on Feb. 14.
He noted the complaints are specifically regarding “vehicles passing school buses that are stopped to pick up students with lights flashing and stop-arms out.”
Trustee Jennifer Edwards suggested Mesenbrink write to Minister of Education Stephen Lecce and Attorney General Doug Downey requesting “further safety measures for our school busses, including the use of stop-arm cameras.”
Trustees voted unanimously in favour of sending the letter, which Mesenbrink pledged to pen.
Stop-arm cameras are installed on school bus stop-arms, the barriers that come out with a stop sign when students are getting on and off the bus, to help them safely cross the road.
Failing to stop for a school bus while the stop-arm is extended comes with fines ranging from $400 to $2,000 and six demerit points for a first offence.
For following offences fines range from $1,000 to $4,000 with another six demerit points and possible jail time of up to six months.
Statistics show more than 30,000 incidents of people illegally passing school busses in the province every day.
Footage from stop-arm cameras has been allowed to be used in Ontario courts since 2020, and stop-arm cameras have been installed on some school busses in the province, including in Ottawa and Mattawa.
In 2020 the Canadian Task Force on School Bus Safety recommended “all jurisdictions explore the application” of additional safety measures including infraction cameras, extended stop-arms, exterior 360 cameras and automatic emergency braking.
The Task Force’s 2020 report states that stop-arm cameras “help prevent dangerous incidents caused by passing motorists.”
The full Task Force report can be found at https://bit.ly/3IkERfc.
For provincial information about school bus safety visit www.ontario.ca/page/school-bus-safety.
