Mother’s Facebook Videos of Stop-Arm Runners Spur Police Crackdown

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — A frustrated mother who spotted motorists illegally passing her daughter’s school bus posted videos of the incidents on Facebook, which caught the attention of law enforcement, CBC News reports.

Ashley McMaster told the news source that she decided to post the videos in an effort to raise awareness about the danger of not stopping for a stopped school bus. Meanwhile, municipal councilors noticed the videos, and that led to a crackdown by the Halifax Regional Police. Constable Larry Roberge, who has parked at a school bus stop every morning for three weeks, has issued 18 tickets for $410 and four demerit points, according to CBC News.

In one of the Facebook videos posted by McMaster, students are seen trying to board the bus as three vehicles drive past it, causing a police car to pursue the vehicles. Roberge told the news source that when he pulls drivers over for not stopping for the buses, most of them tell him that they didn’t see the bus or that they didn’t know that they were supposed to stop. Roberge added that there has been a rise in people not stopping for school buses over the last two years.

McMaster told CBC News that police issuing tickets to motorists who fail to stop for school buses doesn’t seem to have made an impact yet, and that increasing fines may be one solution.

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