Rain, shine, or snow, school bus drivers are focused on keeping their students safe and secure from the first stop until the last each and every school day. With eyes concentrated on the road, drivers must also be tuned into the internal bus environment and any challenges that may arise, such as fighting or bullying. But if a driver’s attention is diverted from the road, it presents additional safety risks, such as accidents. How can adding cameras to the bus help increase student safety?
Reduce safety risks on and off the school bus
With the addition of school bus security cameras administrators can breathe easier and safety is heightened for students, drivers and the community. School administrators and parents can be assured that students remain safe once they leave the school building and bus environments are continuously being monitored. Additionally, by assisting the driver to keep his or her attention focused on the road, safety risks are reduced, liability concerns lessened and students, drivers and school systems are better protected.
And it’s not just the school bus – adding cameras and security systems throughout the campus can improve your school’s safety.
See more with optimal camera placement
Carefully placed surveillance cameras to monitor three key areas - internal bus environment, what the driver sees (Dashboard Camera), and the stop sign side of the bus - can be a powerful tool for school bus safety. Typically adding safety cameras to the bus isn’t complicated. You can usually achieve comprehensive video coverage of the bus, both inside and out, by installing just four cameras:
- One camera on the exterior front of the bus monitoring the stop sign traffic
- One internal camera at the front of the bus mimicking the driver’s point of view
- One internal camera in the back of the bus monitoring student activity
- One camera on the interior of the bus facing the seating area to record student activity
Video is recorded on a small server inside the bus, ruggedly designed for the student transport environment. The system can wirelessly transfer the video and data to the administrative server upon returning to the Bus Barn.
Boost bus driver accountability
From an overall school transportation safety approach, driver activities and behaviors can be monitored and tagged within the video footage. The solution can tag specific activities and behaviors such as abrupt braking, speeds, excessive acceleration, longer than usual drop-offs or pick-ups, as well as the GPS location of the bus at all times. For school systems, the information provided through these analytics features allow for increased accountability, reduced liability issues, and increased liability protection for not only the school system, but the drivers and students.
Liability insurance can be expensive. School bus video surveillance can provide extensive benefits when it comes to comprehensive protection for schools, drivers and students. Video footage can provide evidence when accidents do occur or when accusations are made. By having video available, there is footage to help clarify what actually occurred. A picture is worth a 1000 words, but video is worth 10,000.
Increasing safety for students, drivers, and the community
A proactive approach towards school safety and security helps create a positive learning environment and keeps students and staff priority number one. For today’s K-12 schools, safety is more than just access controls and metal detectors. It’s taking all-encompassing safety measures, including video surveillance for school grounds and school transportation.
School safety
