METHUEN, Mass. — Methuen city leaders just approved a new law to install surveillance cameras to the stop arms of school buses.
This will help them catch drivers who illegally pass a stopped bus.
“People drive like maniacs every day and so this will allow us to really crack down on that in a meaningful way,” said Mayor DJ Beauregard. “The great thing about having this provision is we do it with cameras rather than needing to have an officer there actually catching someone in the act of doing that.”
The Methuen Police Department will have a team that reviews that new surveillance video, and they’ll be able to issue tickets to drivers even after the fact, by catching their license plate on camera.
The mayor says this will also help a new school transportation revolving fund.
“We’re going to use money collected from these new fines, and it’s going to go into that revolving fund and we’re going to use that to help offset some of these rising school transportation costs, which the goal there is to alleviate some of the budget pressures on our schools,” said Mayor Beauregard.
Mayor Beauregard says it’s all about investing in school safety both in the classrooms and while kids are going to and from school.
“We’re keeping our streets and kids safer by way of doing this, but we’re also opening up potentially a new revenue source to help our schools as well,” said Beauregard.
While Governor Maura Healey signed this new state law at the beginning of this year, it’s up to individual cities and towns to adopt it and start implementing it.
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