Charlottetown police to ride on school buses to watch for illegal passing

Charlottetown police will be riding along with students on their way to and from school on the bus, in an effort to catching drivers who pass school buses with their red stop lights flashing.

'We're always looking at new methods of trying to curb the problem of this traffic offence'

Brittany Spencer · CBC News · Posted: Mar 07, 2019 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: March 7, 2019

Charlottetown Police will ride on school buses within the city to keep an eye out for motorists passing while the red stop lights are flashing. (CBC)

Charlottetown police will be riding along with students on their way to and from school on the bus, in an effort to catching drivers who pass school buses with their red stop lights flashing.

The program is part of a police school bus initiative that began in January, which aims to raise awareness about the dangers of passing stopped school buses and reduce the number of motorists doing so.

During the month of March, school resource officers with Charlottetown police will periodically travel on school buses in Charlottetown, while traffic enforcement officers follow closely behind.

A school resource officer will ride on the buses through different routes at different times during the month of March. (Laura Meader/CBC)

"We're always looking at new methods of trying to curb the problem of this traffic offence," said Deputy Chief Sean Coombs.

"Sitting back and waiting for the public to give us the information, although that's good, we have to be proactive as well and this is one of the ways we can do it."

Drivers will now lose licence if they illegally pass a school bus

6 drivers charged with passing school buses in Charlottetown so far in 2019

7 drivers charged this year

Coombs said police have gone on one ride along so far and laid one charge during that first time out.

"That officer on the bus will radio behind to the traffic officer and they'll pull them over and give them the ticket and we've had some success with that already," Coombs said.

"We plan on doing it several more times throughout the month of March."

So far this year, Charlottetown police have charged seven drivers for passing school buses.

Zero-tolerance campaign

Coombs said police have been running a zero-tolerance campaign against passing stopped school buses since the beginning of the year. Police have been working to educate the public and school bus drivers about the dangers of passing stopped buses and how to properly report and incident.

"We're letting the public know what we're requiring of them if they're calling in, seeing this infraction as far as getting the licence plate of the driver and the time and the location."

The officer on the bus will radio back to other traffic enforcement officers who will pull the motorist over and hand out the ticket. (CBC)

Coombs said police will continue to explore different strategies to curb the number of drivers committing the offence. Police will take a look at the program at the end of the month and decide whether or not to make ride alongs an ongoing initiative, he said.

"We're looking to build upon it with any new ideas," Coombs said. "We'll see if we'll implement them and if they work, and if they do, we'll continue on with it."