We’re just days away from the return of in-class learning and that means school buses will be back on the road for the first time in several months.
Pierre Ranger, Chair of the Let’s Remember Adam campaign, says drivers need to watch out for and stop for school buses when they stop.
“It’s been a long time since (the buses) have been on the road, we missed seeing them so we need to pay that extra attention,” Ranger says.
He says people should give themselves extra time to get where they’re going and watch out for kids walking to school too.
Ranger also says Mattawa’s school buses are now fully equipped with cameras.
“If somebody decides to run those school bus lights in Mattawa they will be caught, they will be fined and there will be video evidence to prove they did it. We are working on trying to get it across Ontario, we are working to see if the City of North Bay would like to sign on,” he says.
Ranger says they’ve made presentations and the ball is basically in North Bay Council’s court.
“The way the government wrote the specs it’s their decision to have these cameras put on, and these cameras are at no cost to the municipality, to anyone. The way they get paid is the people that break the law pay for the cameras through their fines,” he says.
Ranger’s brother Adam was killed in February 2000 when a truck failed to stop for his school bus in Mattawa.
North Bay Police are also urging drivers to think about safety first with back to school.
“This year North Bay Police will have additional officers assigned to traffic detail to emphasize safe driving during the beginning of the school, especially in the Community Safety Zones where fines are doubled,” says Sergeant Richard Hampel.
