To improve student safety, the City of Shelton has implemented a comprehensive school bus safety initiative with BusPatrol that has equipped all sixty-eight school buses with highly sensitive AI-powered stop-arm surveillance cameras that can identify and punish drivers who pass stopped school buses illegally, using state-of-the-art technology and automated violation assistance.
Smart cameras improve the safety of students
The City of Shelton has recently declared the implementation of a new school bus safety program with partner BusPatrol just in time, as the school year is about to start. The project will help safeguard children because they will be commuting to and out of school by deterring the dangerous and unlawful motorist practice of passing stopped school buses.
Beginning Tuesday, August 26, the fleet of 68 buses in Shelton Public Schools will start running the BusPatrol AI-assisted stop-arm enforcement technology. This program will start with a 30-day timeout, where vehicle owners who illegally pass school buses that have been stopped will be issued warning letters without any monetary fines.
The program will be in live enforcement as of September 29, and under Connecticut law, violators can be fined a minimum of $250 in civil penalties. All the violations are analyzed by qualified municipal employees, and a fine is imposed.
Program financed by violators at zero cost
Significantly, the program is offered at no cost to the City, school district, and taxpayers. BusPatrol covers the initial cost involved in the technology, the installation, and the maintenance. The program is fully violator-funded, such that drivers who violate the law and endanger children finance this valuable student safety program.
According to Shelton Herald, Mayor Mark Lauretti said: “We are proud to be the second city in the state to introduce stop-arm enforcement. This has nothing to do with one thing: the safety of our kids. We are creating a precedent for student safety and making an unmistakable statement – it is never worth risking to pass a stopped school bus.
Superintendent of Shelton Public Schools, Dr. Ken Saranich, commented: “The safety of our students is our primary concern at Shelton Public Schools, and initiating this program will be a significant move in further protecting our children as they ride the bus to and from school every day.
Technology is effective in the country
Daily, drivers endanger children by overspeeding past school bus stop arms, said Justin Meyers, President and Chief Innovation Officer at BusPatrol. The data indicate that these programs are functional. In nine out of every ten drivers, the violation notification does not lead to a repeat offence. That is evidence that the technology transforms driving habits and makes roads safer.
Shelton is the first Connecticut city to have a BusPatrol program since Bridgeport, and is part of a growing trend in New England. The program is also projected to start in the new school year in neighboring Stratford and Trumbull, as well as Waterbury, Danbury, and New Haven.
Safety statistics on a statewide level demonstrate a need
Over 330,000 children are riding school buses in Connecticut every day. In a recent study, cameras fitted on only 74 buses showed that close to 10,000 illegal passes were recorded over a period of six months, which is equal to 75 violations per weekday. Every violation is a time when a child endangers his/her life.
The RFP BusPatrol AI-based stop-arm cameras, as developed by Shelton, can serve as a breakthrough in the sphere of student transportation safety. As the effectiveness to date is proven with ninety percent of violators never sinning again, this zero-cost program indicates how technology would help to keep children safe, and alter dangerous driving habits with automated enforcement and community education programs.v