School bus cameras on the way?

Transport Minister André Fortin left the door open Tuesday to the possible installation of photo radar cameras on school buses to punish drivers who fail to stop when flashing lights are on. Fortin was speaking at a Fédération des transporteurs par autobus press conference launching the 30th School Bus Safety Campaign.

In 2015, a pilot project allowed Ottawa to install cameras on the stop arms of certain school buses and the project found that there was an average of five offenses per day on each bus route. With the project report in hand, the federal capital announced in November that six cameras, costing between $16,000 and $18,000 each, would be permanently installed on school buses.

Luc Lafrance, President and CEO of the Fédération des transporteurs par autobus, admits that the number of rule violations is currently much higher than the number of tickets issued by police.

"According to the figures of the Quebec Automobile Insurance Corporation, only 1000 tickets are issued annually in Quebec for ignoring flashing lights on the 10 000 school buses that carry more than half-a-million schoolchildren, which average 20 million kilometers a day.” Lafrance said, adding that he was aware that manufacturers of these cameras had applied to the Quebec Government for a pilot project similar to the one attempted in Ottawa.

Fortin, for his part, mentioned that the province’s road safety record has improved significantly for school buses in Quebec.

"But even if the bottom line has improved, a single accident can lead to a tragic end," he said.

Fortin says the last case of a student dying inside a bus involved in a car accident dating back to 1986 while Lafrance pointed out that another accident in 2006 involved a student who had just gotten off the bus.

Last November 27, a 17-year-old girl died after being struck by a school bus in Saint-eustache, and in September, a 61-year-old cyclist was killed in Montreal after being struck by a school bus. In 2011, a collision between a van and a school bus left four people dead and four seriously injured in Sainte-geneviève-deberthier, in Lanaudière.

According to the Automobile Insurance Corporation, 292 people were injured in school bus accidents in 2016, 29 fewer than in 2015. Of these, 276 were slightly injured and 11 seriously. Five adults, one occupying a school bus and four occupying another vehicle, were killed. These figues cover all accidents related to school transportation in the broader sense and that a bus was not necessarily involved in the accident.