Boston City Councilor Enrique PepénPhoto: Courtesy of Enrique Pepén
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Boston City Council passed an order Thursday to adopt a state law that would allow the city to install cameras in school buses.
Boston City Councilor Enrique Pepén proposed the order to keep students safe when they get on and off school buses in the city.
Governor Maura Healey signed a bill into law earlier this month which says that “an enforcing authority may deploy bus stop camera systems to enforce bus stop violations.”
In a statement to WBZ NewsRadio, Pepén said he was excited “for this important safety measure.”
“Since my inauguration last year, our office has heard of near misses of our young people getting hit by inpatient drivers violating the school buses’ stop sign on a weekly basis,” Pepén said. “We are working towards getting these monitoring systems installed as soon as possible to successfully hold drivers accountable for endangering the lives of young people who are just getting to and from school.”
Pepén represents District 5, which includes Hyde Park, Readville, and parts of Roslindale and Mattapan. Some residents there approve of the plan.
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“Boston traffic can get pretty crazy, especially at peak hours,” said Keith, the parent of a young child who lives in Roslindale. “Having that extra level of safety can be pretty helpful, you know it’s hard to have police be where they need to help with that.”
“My wife actually works for a charter school in the Dorchester area and it’s more congested there and there can be more of an issue where there’s more traffic,” another resident added.
WBZ NewsRadio’s James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.