Foothills RCMP have issued multiple tickets after vehicles were caught on surveillance camera passing school buses which had stop signs out and red lights flashing.
On April 12, the Foothills School Division provided RCMP with video footage showing six instances of vehicles committing the offence, which carries a fine of $543.
"These were captured by video surveillance and you can't identify the driver so the registered owner is issued the ticket and they don't get demerits for it but the fine itself is pretty punitive," said Cpl. Ryan Eckersley acting detachment commander with the Foothills RCMP. "So it's kind of like a photo radar ticket, you don't get demerits on a photo radar ticket.
"It's going to serve as a pretty healthy deterrent with this kind of fine."
Eckersley could not confirm where the offences occurred, given that the division has schools in Okotoks, High River, Blackie and throughout the County.
However, he said the responding officer indicated that five were at morning pick-up and one was at afternoon drop-off.
"So it seems to be the morning commuters that are having the most problems," he said.
"If I were to assume, I would guess it wouldn't be parents dropping their kids off because they tend to be the ones that are more vigilant and cautious because they're aware of the little ones being around," Eckersley said.
"I suspect a lot of these are cases where people are just not thinking either that or a bit of a lack of patience and they think that nobody's around, but it a school bus – you don't want to assume and then have something tragic happen."
Eckersley said it's important to remember to drive safely, especially around schools.
"As drivers, we have to share the road with others, and particularly when a school bus is stopped and has that sign out that means a youngster is either getting on or off that bus and until the bus is away safely and we can see where that student is and that it's safe for us to proceed we should not be proceeding ourselves."
When reached on the matter, the school division echoed the sentiment.
“Everyone—every driver—has to work together to ensure the safety of students, especially around school buses," it said in an emailed comment. "It’s vital to the safety of our community’s young people that drivers stop completely when they see a school bus with flashing lights and stop signs out.
"It’s also imperative they respect the 90km/hour speed limit of school buses, especially on the highway. The majority of incidents happen to students around school buses, not on them. It takes a community to ensure student safety.”
