Peabody, Salem Bus Camera Safety Campaign Moves Law To Governor's Desk

PEABODY, MA — What began as one North Shore city's passion-filled campaign to move an often-intransigent state legislature to action after children suffered injuries from drivers failing to stop for school buses picking up and dropping off students is one signature away from becoming law across the Commonwealth after a decade of stalled progress on Beacon Hill.

S.T.O.P the Operator Passing founder Maria Scheri and Peabody school and city officials began their intensified efforts to advocate for a law allowing drivers to be cited based on camera evidence of a violation after multiple incidents involving students who were injured early in the 2022 school year. Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt formed a School Safety Task Force, of which Scheri was named the co-chair, and the city began a BusPatrol pilot program to collect data on how rampant the violations actually were.

A 2024 release of data from a BusPatrol camera pilot program in Peabody revealed that the the company recorded 3,412 vehicles failing to stop for 10 camera-equipped buses that were stopped for students between Sept. 5, 2023 and May 9, 2024.

• Peabody School Bus Stop Safety Data Shows Rampant Driver Violations

Salem joined the push last year with data collected in that neighboring North Shore city showing similar results.

Currently, police are only allowed to cite drivers if there is visual evidence of a violation. The proposed state law would allow camera footage similar to that being collected on the stop-arms of buses through BusPatrol to be used to issue tickets. Camera use for ticketing is allowed in 27 states but the proposal in Massachusetts languished at the State House for the better part of a decade.

Now the Bay State is poised to join those allowing camera evidence for citations after lawmakers passed the bill shortly before the end of the 2024 session — with it now pending Gov. Maura Healey's signature.

"This is a significant piece of legislation to make school bus stops safer for kids across Massachusetts," Scheri told Patch on Friday. "I am grateful for the incredible support from our leaders in Peabody and Salem but particularly from Mayor Bettencourt and the Peabody School Committee for listening to my concerns and for taking immediate action by conducting the stop-arm camera study with BusPatrol."

Scheri advocated for the law's passage throughout the years-long process — holding information sessions at the Northshore Mall and other regional events at the start of new school years educating drivers unaware of the law requiring them to stop for busses of its existence and pushing for the ability to effectively punish those who disobeyed it.

She told Patch last spring that based on the BusPatrol data collected during the pilot program concerned parents across the state had to "speak up to hold drivers accountable."

"The necessary data and video footage the cameras provided along with the support of local news, raised a tremendous amount of awareness which ignited a larger push to pass the bill from state lawmakers, organizations such as AAA Northeast, and other advocacy groups," she told Patch on Friday. "The Massachusetts Association of School Committees recently passed a resolution to support the bill so it really all came together once people realized the disturbing number of illegal school bus passing violations that are happening and endangering the lives of our students."

Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said this past spring that Salem's efforts to join Peabody in the camera pilot program were intended to invoke statewide action to "give communities more flexibility in using these tools for enforcement, not just studies."

• Salem Joins Peabody In School Bus Safety Push Using Cameras

"It's amazing how one or two communities can take a stand and lead the way to affect change for not just their own but for communities across the state," Scheri said. "Peabody and then Salem took a stand against dangerous driving behavior, and I am hopeful other school districts
will follow.

"In addition to citing reckless drivers, the program will also help to educate drivers about the importance of stopping and serve as a great reminder of the existing law — when the red lights are flashing — there is no passing."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)