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“[This program] is using technology, combined with changes in the state laws, to allow us to be more protective and make our way to school safer and more secure for our children, and also for our motorists,” First Selectman Michael Tetreau said Monday.
RedFlex Traffic Systems’ Student Guardian program will mount the cameras on the driver’s side of Fairfield school buses. If the camera spots a car in its field of vision while the school bus stop bar is out, the company will send that video clip to the Fairfield Police traffic safety unit. Those officers will then send out tickets to cars they see violating the law in those videos.
State law bans drivers from passing within 10 feet in either direction of a school bus stopped with its red signal lights flashing. The violation carries a fine of $450.
Before the cameras, police were able to enforce the law only when an officer witnessed the violation in person, Lt. James Perez said. Even when given a license plate by an eyewitness, tickets issued without an officer’s direct account rarely held up in court, he said. Tickets with video evidence are upheld 97 percent of the time, according to RedFlex.
“This represents all those frustrated citizens that have come forward in the past and have complained to us that they wanted an arrest, and we just couldn’t do it,” Perez said.
Fairfield’s taxpayers will not have to pay for the systems directly. RedFlex has agreed to install and monitor the systems for no upfront cost but will collect a percentage of the money Fairfield gets for each fine found with the cameras. Of each $450 fine the state takes 20 percent, Fairfield will receive $125 and RedFlex will keep the rest.
The town will install cameras on randomly selected buses starting immediately. Fairfield is the 20th town in Connecticut to use the Student Guardian system. Since state law first allowed the system in 2011, the company has helped police send more than 1,000 tickets across the state.
Tetreau and Police Chief Gary MacNamara both said Monday that Fairfield hopes the system will stop people from passing school buses and not to catch them in the act.
“Nothing’s changing for those people who follow the law,” MacNamara said. “Stop for school buses and nothing changes. Do not stop, and there will be significant changes. That change is video evidence that will allow us to prosecute effectively.”
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