The issue of vehicles passing school buses with stop sign activated and lights flashing – called blow-bys – continues to be an issue in Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton.
Last school year, 150 of these incidents were reported by school bus drivers in the region, said Kent Orr, general manager of Chatham-Kent Lambton Administrative School Services (CLASS), which manages student transportation services across the region.
Going back to the 2014-15 school year, a total of 131 blow-bys were reported, followed by 126 in 2015-16 and 111 in 2017-18, said Orr.
He estimates with the more than 70 blow-bys that have been reported so far this school year, it could reach 120 or more if there is a spike during the spring, which is possible.
“It’s one of those persistent things,” he said, adding a lot of messaging goes out about it along with blitzes by police.
“But people, they still miss a 40-foot yellow bus with blinking red lights,” Orr said.
A Sarnia parent recently raised the issue on social media.
“My husband and I deal with this every day,” said the parent, who preferred to remain anonymous when contacted by Postmedia.
“It’s at the point where I’m having to take my camera out at drop-off and pick-up every day,” she added.
Chatham-Kent Leamington MPP Rick Nicholls is planning to resurrect a private member’s bill to allow vehicles that are caught on camera passing school buses to be enough evidence for police to act.
The Progressive Conservative MPP introduced Bill 94 when the Liberals were in power, but said it got buried in a broad-ranging cannabis bill, effectively stalling it.
He said pilot projects were conducted with cameras on school buses in Kitchener-Waterloo, Mississauga, North Bay and Ottawa.
“It was horrifying in terms of the blow-bys that had been occurring,” Nicholls said.
The MPP said new legislation will be along the same lines as his former bill, but added there needs to be some consultation with stakeholders.
Nicholls plans to move quickly.
“We want to have everything in place with the school year starting in September 2019.”
Orr said about 10 per cent of the more than 300 buses in the system have an external camera, specifically pointed toward the stop arm for violations.
“We’ve placed those in areas where we have historical problems with blow-bys.”
He added if bus drivers report there is an area where there are issues, “we’ll get a camera there.”
Orr said even on buses that don’t have an external camera, the drivers record licence plates and it is reported to police.
He said bus operators submit a report through an online portal tool CLASS has developed.
“Every time there’s an occurrence, they’ll submit that then we electronically provide it to the appropriate police service for follow up.”
While Orr doesn’t have the figures, he knows area police services are taking action, including laying charges.
A Sarnia police officer said there are two to three reported cases each week, but no recent spike in drive-by incidents.
“Unfortunately we can’t be at every spot,” Const. Giovanni Sottosanti said. “(Bus drivers) send us a report of what happened and where it happened, and then we’ll investigate.”
There is a quirk in the reporting, Sottosanti added.
Because identifying the car is easier than identifying the driver, police are sometimes forced to charge the owner of the vehicle instead of the person driving at the time of the incident.
Usually those people are one in the same.
In those cases, Sottosanti said the fine remains the same, but there are no demerit points given to the owner of the vehicle.
That does not mean there aren’t other repercussions.
“Just because we charge someone, demerit points or not, insurance companies will do an abstract check on people periodically,” Sottosanti said. “If they see that offence on there insurance companies can penalize (the driver), increase premiums.”
Renee Cowell, public information officer with Chatham-Kent police, said 39 blow-by incidents were reported to police last year.
She said 24 were incorrect licence plates, 11 motorists were cautioned and four drivers were charged.
Judy Pickard, with Badder Bus Lines, based in east Chatham-Kent, said their drivers regularly see blow-bys happen.
However, she added it can be difficult for a bus driver to take licence plate information as a vehicle goes past because the drivers have to keep their attention on the safety of the children.
With 17,000 students being transported on 187 school days, Orr said keeping students safe is built into the routine of the drivers when they get to a stop.
“They’re not only watching the kids making their way from their seats up to the front (of the bus) to exit, they’re also trying to make good choices around when they stop the vehicle,” he said.
He added if drivers see traffic is busy and have concerns there may be a vehicle that won’t stop, they’ll keep the doors closed and wait until it is safe for the child to exit.
When students go to cross the street, Orr said, “the drivers are making confirmation visually with the traffic around that it’s stopped and then they give the signal to the kids that it’s safe to cross the road.
“We do have layers of protection built-in, but of course cars are driving by, it just puts that extra risk in there . . . if the child makes a mistake and doesn’t wait for the visual cue to go ahead,” he added. “Bad things can happen fast.”
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