Smart cameras on Mattawa school buses starting to document infractions

Smart cameras recently installed on school buses in the small northeastern town of Mattawa are starting to record violations.

The cameras were installed as a result of the advocacy work of the Let's Remember Adam campaign, which was started after five-year-old Adam Ranger was hit and killed, more than two decades ago, by a truck that didn't stop for the flashing lights on his school bus.

Earlier this year, a company called Bus Patrol installed the cameras. CEO Jean Souliere says the technology will be needed even more, once more people are back on the road after the stay at home order is over.

"We're going to see it happen, even in a place like Mattawa, you're going to see multiple infractions over the course of the school year. It could be quite shocking," he said

Souliere notes that 19 buses in the Mattawa region are equipped with the technology, and efforts are underway to have the cameras installed on buses in other municipalities.

Souliere told Morning North CBC host Markus Schwabe that the ticketing process is fairly simple and doesn't take a lot of community resources.

"Once that ticket is approved by a provincial offence officer, then it is printed, mailed to the offender and then the offender can go online and view a video of their car passing a stopped school bus," he said.

"And then they are asked to pay their fine or they are given the opportunity to contest it."

Souliere says they've been operating these programs since 2017 in the U.S., and they're proving to be effective.

"From a pure numbers perspective, we see a reduction in stop arm violations anywhere between 25 and 30 percent per year," he said.

"In Ontario, it's a $490 ticket. It's an expensive ticket, so [with] the financial penalty, you start to see the behavioural change driven by the ubiquitous deployment of this technology, and ... make the roads safer for kids."

Tap the player to hear the whole interview.