Minnesota DPS Installing Cameras on School Buses

As part of a pilot program to determine the effectiveness of school bus stop arm cameras in Minnesota, an evaluation was conducted during the fall of 2018.

The Office of Highway Safety funded this project through the Federal Highway Administration's Safe Routes to School Program. This funding was made available through a partnership between MnDOT's Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and Minnesota's Public Health Nurses Association (PHNA)

In Minnesota, there are more than 2,200 school buses that transport nearly 300,000 students every day. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) is committed to helping keep our children safe by providing law enforcement officers with the tools they need to enforce traffic laws related to school buses.

After reviewing evaluations from drivers, law enforcement, and parents/students, MnDOT determined that video footage is critical to help identify drivers who illegally pass stopped buses.

Currently, schools can only report driver's license information for an infraction ticketing program that relies on eyewitness reports from fellow drivers or pedestrians who witness an illegal pass by a motorist.

The cameras will be installed at the stop arm and above the windshield of each school bus. It will allow for better visibility for drivers behind buses when children are getting on or off them and provide more evidence if someone does not stop at a bus stop with its flashing lights activated.

The footage can also be used by police officers when investigating crashes involving vehicles hitting pedestrians near bus stops where there was no traffic light or crosswalk present - something that happens far too often, according to statistics provided by Safe Routes MN.