Motorists are getting a lesson in stopping for school buses a week into classes in the Sooke School District.
New exterior red-light cameras installed on 27 of the 41 buses in the district fleet had already snapped 16 pictures by Tuesday afternoon of vehicles committing alleged offences by failing to heed a bus鈥檚 stop signal.
About 4,200 district students take school buses each day.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been very busy with viewing camera footage,鈥� said Tracey Syrota, the district鈥檚 manager of transportation and grounds. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot and it鈥檚 still continuing.鈥� She said about nine 鈥渞ed-light runners鈥� were seen on camera in just the first three days of the new school year.
Traffic rules call for vehicles to stop in both directions when a school bus stops and activates its stop indicators, something that Syrota said some people might not know.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I truly do believe it鈥檚 an education piece,鈥� she said of the cameras. 鈥淓ducating the public, educating our drivers and also educating our students on the safety in and around the outside of the bus.鈥�
The price isn鈥檛 cheap if you鈥檙e ticketed for failing to stop for a school bus.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an escalating cost,鈥� said West Shore RCMP Const. Nancy Saggar. 鈥淏asically every time you do it within a period of 12 months the cost associated to the ticket goes up.
鈥淪o your first offence is going to be $368 and then there is a penalty of three points, as well. The next time is going to be $668.鈥�
The cost would climb to $8,528 for a 10th offence.
From 2009 to 2014, police gave out 1,100 tickets around B.C. to drivers for passing stopped school buses. There were 14 students injured getting on or off a school bus during that time.
Saggar said the new cameras are 鈥渁 step in the right direction.鈥�
Disobeying stop signs on school buses is a regular issue, she said, adding that offences are more common for oncoming vehicles than for those behind a bus.
鈥淲e routinely do get complaints that are put forward by the district,鈥� Saggar said.
The complaints generally come from the bus drivers themselves, she said.
鈥淣ormally, they鈥檙e able to capture a licence plate of a vehicle. However, if that vehicle happens to have been speeding really quickly, that becomes difficult and then all we鈥檙e left with is just a description of the car.
鈥淪o the cameras being put in place would definitely aid police investigations in that regard, and I think it鈥檚 a benefit to the district but also to us as officers who are investigating.鈥�
Camera footage can also be presented as evidence in court, Saggar said.
