Pittsfield Panel Backs School Bus Stop-Arm Cameras
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City councilors are in favor of a theoretical system that flags vehicles that don't stop for school buses.
On Monday, the Ordinances and Rules subcommittee supported Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren's request to accept a new statute that gives the option to install a detection system for school bus traffic violations.
Warren explained that this doesn't mean it will get implemented, but it accepts state law (MGL Chapter 40, Section 71) so that the city can look into it. Earlier this year, Gov. Maura Healey signed a bill that allows municipalities to use school bus violation detection monitoring systems.
"We're talking about kids. We're talking about the only way you can catch this is probably this way," he said.
"Even if you're in a car that's behind a car that does this, first of all, by the time they do it, you haven't had a chance to take down their license, you haven't had a chance to video it, and they're gone. And if a lot of people are doing this, children are in danger. If they know that there is a system in place, then I think we will see a lot better."
He explained that the person in charge of Pittsfield Public Schools' bus operations would determine the feasibility and cost of the system, "but you can't do that until you do this." Warren pointed to a constituent's reports of people regularly passing buses with the stop arm out near Morningside Community School.
"Unbelievable," he said, noting that "maybe just by virtue of the City Council passing this, it might send a message to some people out there to be a little more aware when they're around schools at school time."
These cameras, referred to as "stop-arm cameras," detect, record, and help enforce laws against drivers who illegally pass a stopped school bus while its red lights are flashing and stop arm is extended.
Subcommittee Chair Dina Lampiasi, councilor for Ward 6, said this makes it an option for Pittsfield.
"That doesn't mean that we have adopted it or that we're making any financial investment," she said.
Tags: school buses, school safety,
