Palliser Regional Schools increasing video coverage of bus routes

The goal of Palliser’s bus safety campaign, ‘Think of Us on the Bus,’ was to put a face on the passengers placed in jeopardy when drivers illegally pass school buses which are stopped with red lights flashing, coined “fly-bys.”

Class began for some 8,300 students across Palliser Regional Schools on Sept. 4, and there was already one reported fly-by during that first week back.

For some, Shaw added, perhaps the message will hit closer to home if a person’s pocketbook is affected.

“Maybe (that offending driver) shows his neighbour the ticket he gets in the mail and goes, ‘oh darn.’ You hope the word is getting around,” Shaw said.

The bus-mounted video camera system has proven effective as far as the evidence it provides.

This past year Palliser shared 43 video clips of fly-bys with law enforcement officials, with a few others that didn’t have as clear an image of the vehicle.

Shaw says anything that there was a license plate, got a ticket, and that only one ticket was contested and not successfully.

“They were shown the video evidence by the prosecutor before they went in front of the judge and they changed their plea.”

With 43 convictions on 43 tickets, the coffers of the government gained some $23,000 in fines.

Palliser has made a practice of introducing additional video camera systems when it purchases new school buses.

Not only do older buses require upgraded wiring to accommodate the system, Shaw says it doesn’t make sense to install new technology on older vehicles which might only have a few years of shelf life remaining.

When the video cameras were first installed on Palliser buses, the priority was routes with higher traffic volume and higher incidence rates including Coaldale, Sunnyside School and those in Picture Butte.

Three of the new buses with cameras will serve the Vulcan area and the other three are in the rural Lethbridge area.

With these additions, 45 out of 58 bus routes are covered by cameras now.

This past school year saw 66 reported fly-bys, compared with 74 the previous school year.

While he knows numbers will likely spike in September, after Christmas and when the weather gets better in the spring, Shaw feels confident Palliser is making a difference.

Shaw also pointed to a new bus safety program that has been approved for the Career and Life Management course which should increase awareness among new drivers.

“We are starting to get a handle on it,” Shaw added.

by Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Palliser Regional Schools increasing video coverage of bus routes

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