It may be a few days away but the North Bay Police are gearing up for the start of school.
The North Bay Police Service will be ramping up patrols for the start of school along with putting police officers on school buses.
They will also have police cruisers following buses to ensure impatient drivers aren’t passing school buses when they are stopped.
“People need to be reminded that school buses, they need to stop 20 meters behind the bus, that’s three or four car lengths,” stated North Bay Police Service Traffic Staff Sgt. Rick Dubeau to the North Bay media on Friday.
“That’s when the flashing lights are on and the bus is stopped.”
Dubeau says tickets for passing a school bus aren’t cheap. They can come with a $2,000 to $4,000 fine along with six demerit points.
While it is an annual message by police, the local cops admit there is a reason for the reminder.
“We do have complaints from the bus drivers of people passing the school buses while their lights are stopped so we do have complaints and they are in all areas of the city so it’s not just one area but we always to have complaints,” he said.
Police will also be watching crossing guards too.
“When the students are crossing with the crossing guards you must stop until everybody is safely removed from the road and the crossing guard has to also be off the road before the vehicles can start moving again,” said Dubeau.
Dubeau encourages drivers leave a bit earlier to start the day and ensure they aren’t rushing to get to work due to the increased school related morning traffic.
Of course texting and driving can also be a problem.
“If we could have drivers paying attention also not talking on their phones or texting,” he said.
“It’s all about concentrating when you are driving and paying attention to the road.”
Motorists will also need to be aware of the new community safety zones near schools that come with lower 40 kilometre an hour speed limits.
“It’s a safety zone so the speed limit is reduced to 40 kilometres but you will see it will change from one road to another from 40 to 50 kilometers,” said Dubeau.
