METHUEN — Chief Scott McNamara and Mayor D.J. Beauregard inform the community that the Methuen City Council has adopted a new state law that will allow Methuen Police to ticket drivers that pass stopped school buses based on footage obtained by school bus cameras.
On Dec. 31, 2024, Gov. Maura Healey signed a new law that gives communities the option to use video monitoring systems to watch for school bus traffic violations.
The legislation was supported by the Massachusetts Municipal Association and has now been accepted by the Methuen City Council through a measure sponsored by Mayor Beauregard and City Council Vice-Chair Neily Soto.
School buses that are equipped with monitoring devices will display signage indicating their use. The monitoring devices will record video and produce still images of the rear of any motor vehicle that passes a stopped bus, so that police can read the vehicle’s license plate.
All footage and images of violations will be forwarded to police for review. Methuen Police will be organizing a school bus traffic enforcement team to review footage collected by school buses, and issue citations to vehicles that are observed passing stopped buses.
The City is also creating a School Transportation Revolving Fund that will use money collected from school bus violations to help defray transportation costs, which have been rising rapidly across the Commonwealth.
“I think this is a win-win,” said Mayor Beauregard. “We’re creating a deterrent aimed at cracking down on school bus stop arm violations while opening up a new funding source for our schools.”
“Recent studies have shown evidence that school bus stop violations are entirely too common across the Commonwealth,” said Chief McNamara. “This new tool that the state Legislature and Methuen City Council have given us will enable us to more stringently enforce these critical safety laws.”
To learn more about the new law and how video monitoring will work, review an informational article from the Massachusetts Municipal Association by clicking here.
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