School Bus Cameras Catch 260 Violations In 10 Days

by Mona Mahadevan The New Haven independent

In the ten days since beginning a new bus safety program, the city has issued 260 warning notices to drivers caught on camera passing a school bus while it was dropping off or picking up students.

Haley Simpson, the new director of the city’s Department of Transportation, Traffic, and Parking (TT&P), presented that figure to the Traffic Authority during the commission’s monthly meeting online on Tuesday.

The city began a 30-day “warning period” for its new bus safety protocol on Jan. 30. Beginning March 2, drivers that illegally pass a school bus while its red lights are flashing and its stop-arm is out will receive a $250 fine.

The new safety protocol was proposed by the Elicker administration and approved by the Board of Alders last year. Enforcement relies on new school bus cameras, which record drivers when a bus’s lights begin to flash.

According to Simpson, cameras have now been installed on 200 of the 330 buses operated by New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) and contractor First Student. She said 177 violations were issued on Monday alone.

“That’s a lot for one day,” pointed out Evelise Riberio, chair of the commission. She asked why the number was so high.

“I do not understand the why,” responded Simpson. “Our children’s lives are at stake here.” She said Bridgeport, by comparison, sends 500 violations per week.

In addition to stepping up enforcement, Simpson said that TT&P is attending community management team meetings and visiting schools to emphasize the importance of school bus safety.

According to Simpson, cameras begin recording when a bus’s lights flash yellow, so the department reviews videos to confirm that flagged drivers actually broke the law. “You’re in violation as soon as the lights turn red,” clarified Bruce Fischer, a traffic operations engineer at TT&P.

Simpson said most of the violations occurred near schools.

After returning from a sabbatical, Tracey Meares, a city traffic commissioner and Yale Law professor, said she noticed “the number of people running stop signs, red lights, [and] not using turn signals.” For that reason, she told Simpson, “I just think that the data that you’re sharing is just a symptom of a bigger problem that we have.”