Fine'em Danno!

Schools throughout Massachusetts are about to open within a few weeks, and with that comes the nervousness of getting the right clothes, making sure the right Trapper Keeper is bought (OK, maybe not a Trapper Keeper, but whatever the kids are using these days to keep their paperwork organized), the right shoes/ sneakers, and, of course, the perfect hairstyle or haircut.

The other nervousness, that exists with the parents that are allowing their child to ride the school bus to and from school.  

My nervousness is of a different kind; it's for the kids crossing the streets and drivers too busy on their cellphone, eating, arguing with children in the backseat that don't see the bus's flashing STOP sign.

Too many times have I seen this scenario play out on Main Street, and the many side streets throughout Worcester.

Well, maybe we can borrow a piece of technology from Medford, Quincy, and Seekonk who've outfitted a few school buses with video cameras that records the violaters as they drive by the flashing STOP sign.

In reading this article posted on Boston.com:

Cameras mounted behind the bus’s extended stop-sign arm capture vehicle license plates of any traffic coming from both directions on the street. Video images are then fed to local police for review to assess whether a moving violation took place. If the answer is yes - and if a measure pending on Beacon Hill should become law - a citation would be mailed to the vehicle’s owner.

With the increase of traffic cameras within the City, I'd push for cameras on school buses to be tried, as a pilot, in Worcester.

I, too, think that the number of violations would be enough to make parents, and Worcester Public Schools take note, and advocate for cameras on many, if not all, school buses.