$5,000 exterior school bus cameras used to increase safety

In an effort to increase school bus safety, some school bus companies in the Windsor-Essex region are installing cameras on the outside of the vehicles.

• Drivers not stopping for school buses big concern for OPP

The cameras are installed on the exterior of the school bus so drivers can record vehicles in a problem areas.

This give bus drivers the ability to record the licence plates of problem vehicles and report them to police.

Sgt. Matt D'Asti with the Windor Police service said this makes it easier for officers.

"We will take that witness account and that witness information, but when you take that information and now you can substantiate it with a video recording, that's invaluable for police," he said.

They cost about $5,000 per unit, but Crystal Williamson, the Windsor manager of Sharp Bus Lines in Amherstburg, said they're worth it.

The company started using cameras on their school buses five years ago, and more bus lines at the Windsor-Essex Transportation Service, a consortium serving several school boards, are now doing the same thing.

Williamson said the recorded footage helps identify vehicles that are not stopping for school buses.

The death of a teenage girl in 1997 prompted change, Williamson said.

"When that young Marcuzzi girl lost her life at No. 3 Highway when a car ran the lights of the bus, all of that has prompted it," she said. "If we can save a life, then it's a small price to pay, to put these cameras in."

Ryan Marcuzzi, 17, was boarding her school bus when she was struck and killed by a car travelling 80 km/hr from the opposite direction.

Each of the camera units used today come equipped with four cameras, which automatically start recording the second the bus driver turns on the engine.

The units also come with buttons bus drivers can press to create a marker in the footage if they spot a driver not stopping.

It means company officials and police don't have to review hours of tape.

"Because of everything going on and especially children crossing you can't always catch that plate," said Wendy Quick, who has been driving for Sharp for eight years. "So if it's happening the camera is there. It's your extra set of eyes, which is nice to have."

About a week before the school year started OPP warned drivers they have to start obeying school bus laws.

The Independent School Bus Operators Association carried out its own province-wide study on how often motorists ignore school bus stop signals.

The association claims that over a five-day period in May, bus drivers reported 151 daily occasions where vehicles failed to stop for the school bus, when the lights were flashing.