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The North Bay Police Service says that its platoon traffic officers will be closely monitoring traffic in school bus zones and along bus routes from Tuesday September 8th to Friday September 18th. Additionally, every school bus driver will have Ministry-approved infraction forms in order to assist police in future enforcement beyond this initiative to aid in the prosecution of offenders, says a news release fom police.
Police will be monitoring traffic in school zones and following designated school buses in high-infraction bus routes from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday during this two-week campaign.
High-infraction bus routes and zones
Working in conjunction with Stock Transportation, the North Bay Police Service has identified high-infraction bus zones, which generally happen between 7:45 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. and between 3:10 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.. During this two-week campaign, a police cruiser has been assigned to follow the school bus drivers assigned to these routes. While monitoring traffic along these routes, the officer will either stop motor vehicles or record the vehicle's licence plate number for follow-up with the registered owner of the vehicle and continue to follow the bus until the conclusion of the route.
The zones identified are:
- Algonquin Avenue (4-lane)
- Lakeshore Drive (4-lane)
- Airport Road
- Gormanville Road
- Jane Street
- Cassells Street
- Front Street
Plan ahead
“Back to school” means more traffic on our roads in the mornings before school commences and in the afternoons when school is out. Motorists are advised to plan for traffic delays during these peak times.
Motorists are also advised to obey school bus stops and obey speed limits.
When a school bus has stopped, motorists travelling in both directions* must:
- obey the bus’s red flashing stop lights and extended stop arm
- stop at a safe distance away from the bus (20 metres when approaching from the rear) *The only exception: On highways separated by a median, traffic coming from the opposite direction is not required to stop.
Keep our children safe!
Motorists have a role to play in keeping our children safe. They are advised to:
- be ready to stop at all times. Children do not always notice oncoming traffic and some are distracted due to texting, talking on mobiles, or listening to music;
- always try to make eye contact with children waiting to cross the road;
- be patient and wait for children to complete their crossing before proceeding; and
- obey crossing guards when they direct you to stop.
