Legislators on Monday sent a bill to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk that would allow municipalities to install automated traffic enforcement cameras on school buses. The bill’s passage comes after concerned community members rang the alarm about the prevalence of drivers blowing past buses.
If the governor signs off, districts could decide whether to record vehicles that pass buses while they’re stopped and students are boarding or walking off. The law would require sharing that footage with local police, who would review video and decide whether to issue citations.
“I think it’s kind of difficult to oppose a simple measure that’s going to be protecting children coming on and off school buses,” said Sen. Michael Moore, a sponsor.
The ACLU of Massachusetts, while not opposing the measure, has expressed some concerns about privacy and how the footage would be protected.
The law notes that buses with cameras will have to display clearly that they are recording. Footage must be destroyed within 30 days for recordings of vehicles that haven’t committed a violation, and within one year after the resolution of a violation case. Districts that end up contracting out and using those systems will have to file annual reports to the state and can’t allow their vendors to use the data for any other purpose.
The fine for violating the law is at least $250 for the first offense, and goes up, leading to a suspended license for up to a year.
A large part of the bill’s movement came from Stop the Operator from Passing, a Peabody group founded by concerned parent Maria Scheri.
“People are blowing right past the school buses — we’ve had several near misses. It could be a huge possible tragedy,” she said.
With the support of Virginia-based BusPatrol America and city leaders, Peabody Public School buses were outfitted with cameras for free in an ongoing pilot program to show data for the area. From Sept to Dec. 15, seven buses in Peabody captured over 1,500 violations. The company has a similar program in Salem. At least 27 states have similar enforcement programs, according to BusPatrol.
“With the cameras, it’s a little bit easier to hold folks who would endanger a child’s life accountable for a very egregious traffic violation,” said Steve Randazzo, chief growth officer for BusPatrol. He said it can be difficult for law enforcement to have enough resource to track buses on their own and give out citations. The company has trainings for police and has a “system of checks and balances” for spotting potential infractions.
It’s not just Peabody and Salem interested in the technology. The Boston City Council held a hearing for an order written by District Councilor Enrique Pepén in August.
During the hearing, Dan Rosengard of Boston Public Schools noted that passing drivers are a “huge safety risk.”
“I think one great idea would be putting stop arm cameras on buses and allowing for enforcement of stop arm violations, so we would be very interested,” he said.
Pepén noted that parents had mentioned the issue to his office, and he personally saw a vehicle pass a stopped bus on a busy street in Roslindale.
