Wolcott going high tech to keep kids safe

Updated: Thursday, 14 Jun 2012, 5:59 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 14 Jun 2012, 4:11 PM EDT

WOLCOTT, Conn. (WTNH) -- The town of Wolcott is going high tech to keep its youngest residents safe, when they're most vulnerable.

As a parent, there's nothing more terrifying than seeing a driver pass a school bus, with its lights blinking and stop sign(s) down.

However, in Wolcott, those kind of careless drivers will have a hard time avoiding the long arm of the law.

From now on, school buses will be outfitted with three cameras to record drivers who pass a stopped bus that has children getting on or off the bus.

A company called SmartBus is installing the cameras, and according to the town, at no cost to taxpayers.

"Law enforcement does not have to worry about claims of passing, bus drivers can focus on kids exiting to the right of them," explained Thomas O'Connor, SmartBus President, "they don't have to look back left for a license plate, it's a force multiplier."

Here's how that works: Violators will be slapped with a 450 dollar ticket. The town will get 85 percent of the money and SmartBus will also get a cut.

"SmartBus live will notify us that there has been a violation and we take it from there," said Chief Ed Stephens of the Wolcott Police Department, "we would then...review the film and issue the tickets."

As the saying goes, the camera never blinks. It will be extremly difficult for drivers to successfully fight their recorded violations in court.

"And, there's a social embarrassment with this issue, passing a school bus," said O'Connor, "when kids are getting on and off [the bus], people aren't really interested in trying to fight that too hard, especially when the video evidence shows clearly you passed a stopped school bus."