The new strobe lights on top of Durham Region school buses are there to increase general awareness and enhance public safety
Have you noticed the new strobe lights sitting on top of Durham Region school buses in the past three weeks?
Kelly Mechoulan, Chief Administrative Officer at Durham Student Transportation Services (DSTS) explains why the lights are there, “We began adding them to our buses about three weeks ago. The lights serve multiple purposes: to draw attention to school buses for general awareness (school buses make frequent stops), to be easily spotted in inclement weather (such as fog, rain, or snow), and to enhance overall safety of the students onboard, as well as pedestrians and other drivers on the road.”
DSTS is responsible for transportation of students in the Durham District School Board and the Durham Catholic District School Board.
Mechoulan says that since the implementation of the lights began, at least three concerned citizens have notified police, “We had a pedestrian walking her dog, and a driver both notify police because they were worried people on the buses were in distress. We also recently had a police officer pull one of our buses over for the same reason,” says Mechoulan. She adds, “But that’s a good thing, because it means people are paying attention and noticing there’s a school bus near them, which is the main point.”
“The most important thing for people to know is that these lights do not mean the driver or students are in distress. It simply means the bus is transporting children in the vicinity, and to keep that in mind,” states Mechoulan.
Although these rooftop strobe lights may be new to DSTS, they are already being used in other provinces and some regional municipalities in Ontario. After a provincial review in 2010, Alberta enacted a law requiring strobe lights on school buses. This law requires school bus drivers to activate the light when driving in inclement weather conditions such as heavy rain, snow, or fog. Several states in the United States including Alaska, Arkansas, California, and Georgia also require the use of strobe lights on school buses.
In Ontario there is no law enforcing or prohibiting strobe lights on school buses, therefore the lights can be voluntarily installed by the bus operator. Niagara Student Transportation Services, which serves the District School Board of Niagara and the Niagara Catholic District School Board, also use rooftop strobe lights on their buses.
Mechoulan says that by September 2019, the entire fleet of passenger buses in DSTS will have rooftop strobe lights installed.
For more information on this topic please contact Durham Student Transportation Services at 905-666-6979 or visithttps://www.dsts.on.ca/.
Leave a Reply