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School Bus Cameras
Status
Signed into Law
An Act concerning the safety of school children embarking and disembarking school buses
As part of the Commonwealth’s ongoing efforts to enhance public safety, An Act concerning the safety of school children embarking and disembarking school buses authorizes the use of detection systems to monitor and enforce laws requiring vehicles to stop for school buses displaying flashing red lights. This bill was signed into law by Governor Healey on 1/10/25
Highlights
- Allows cities and towns to install camera systems on school buses to detect violations, such as illegally passing a stopped school bus. Systems record violations, including license plate numbers, date, time, and location.
- Local law enforcement reviews recorded evidence to issue citations for violations. Vehicle owners are held responsible, with options to contest the fines or identify the actual driver at the time of the violation
- Violations detected by the camera systems are subject to fines under existing school bus safety laws. Penalties are considered civil offenses, not criminal convictions, and do not result in insurance surcharges.
- The systems are designed to avoid capturing images of vehicle occupants. Video and photographic evidence must be destroyed after use in enforcement.
