Public school buses, charter pupil transportation buses, and private student bus contractor buses transport the most valuable cargo, our children, each school day to and from their schools. They not only carry our children but, in many ways, our future rides with them.

Clearly, I am biased on the topic of "Do my buses need School Bus Video Cameras?" it would be dishonest to pretend to be otherwise.
I believe every bus, as well as every student transported, should be afforded a higher level of safety and protection provided a school bus video observation camera system that can provide video evidence documentation in case of bullying, offenses, or violent acts by students or those charged with their safe transport. Special Needs Wheelchair School Bus Video Surveillance Systems offer a high level of liability risk management as they can verify or disprove claims of abuse to those children that require additional assistance due to wheelchairs or other needs they may have during the transportation process.

The mere presence of a School Bus Video Camera System can be a powerful means to remind people they are being recorded and that their statements to others and their actions are documented. And this is a proven deterrence for many types of negative behaviors that are often demonstrated where there are no School Bus Cameras in place because Human nature has proven that people act differently when they are accountable for their actions. For example, Driving While Texting is a nationwide epidemic and a clear and present threat to the lives of all children being transported. The mere presence of a camera monitoring the drivers may be sufficient to help them focus on their driving and not on their cell phones while transporting children, if not because it is the right thing to do, then to avoid losing their job and possible jail time should they cause an accident. The next time they see a camera in a bus might be the prison bus they are being transported in.

When considering adding a School Bus Video Camera System to your fleet, it is important to clearly define your goals in adding the School Bus Video Camera System.

The range of risk covered the spectrum of passenger transportation management. On one side, you have an application where generally the children are happy to be there, like Transportation Ministry Youth Activities Church Bus Camera Systems where they are being taken to a place where they can interact with others and enjoy their time.
Unlike other applications like Alternative School & Juvenile Detention Bus Security Camera systems, the risk exposure is different as those being transported do not have a history of problematic physical or social behaviors.
Goals in adding a School Bus Video Camera System might include:
·      Prove or dismiss allegations of child bullying
·      Prove or dismiss allegations of child assaults
·      Prove or dismiss allegations of child misconduct
·      Prove or dismiss liability in case of injury
·      Prove or dismiss allegations of driver misconduct
·      Prove or dismiss allegations of child pickup & drop-off
 
The above are the most common goals expressed to us by those purchasing our School Bus Video Camera Systems for use in their bus fleet, although Special Needs Wheelchair School Bus Camera Systems to require a bit more coverage due to the added risks associated with the lifting process and the potential for harm. You may have others, and there are certainly more reasons school districts buy bus video cameras for their school buses.

School Bus Video Cameras can provide expert witness digital evidence for incidents that may occur within a school bus involving or between student passengers on those buses. This includes how the bus is being operated. High-tech 3-Axis Accelerometer equipped systems can document What Dangerous Driving Behaviors Look Like before they cause an accident, so the driver can be made aware of the need to operate the bus in a safer manner.

School Bus Video Cameras can help change bad behavior when those being recorded on said cameras believe or find out they can now be held accountable for their bad behavior on those vehicles.

School Bus Video Cameras can prove or disprove a child was picked up at their bus stop and dropped off at their bus stop when parents' questions arise about where their child is.
Only the customer of a student bus video observation system determines the "value" or utility of a product. In this case, it is the school district that determines what they want or need to provide the level of protection required for their students and their school district.

Those seeking a long-term assurance of function can look into School Bus Cameras w/ Lifetime System Warranty.

Should your school district be concerned about possible student behavioral issues on your district buses; bullying, harassment, assaults, drug-related sale or use, sexual harassment, assault or misconduct, or even a driver-related issue like "Texting while driving," then a proven solution is to document the violations or incidents via a Digital Expert Witness School Bus Video Camera System that can record what occurs without prejudice or bias in a sequential record that can be used to verify or disprove allegations should they arise.

Examples of the most common issues that face School District Pupil Transportation administrators and directors include:
"The bus was early, and my child missed the bus."
The GPS-equipped systems can prove with Expert Witness video evidence what time the bus arrived at the bus stop, and the video recording can show if the child was there and got on the bus or not.
 
"The bus driver speeds down our street."
The GPS-equipped systems can prove with Expert Witness video evidence the speed of the bus at all times while it is in operation on the public roads with metadata that is time-stamped and synchronized with the video playback, including a Google map tile showing the location of the bus at all times during the trip which is also synchronized with the video playback from the School Bus Video Camera system. Head Start  Pre-School Nursery School Child Safety Bus Camera Recorder systems have been used to dispute claims made by the very young children in Head Start programs that the bus driver is speeding.
 
"My child was assaulted by another child on the bus"
The School Bus Video Cameras document a sequential digital video of the activities and events on the bus. Should there be an incident that has occurred, the video file can be viewed on a PC and any assault or bad behavior between children can be verified or disproved and digital evidence in the form of a video clip or photo can be provided to the parent should the district see fit.
Please note; that "video clips" from Video Camera for my school bus should be handled with care as they include an Audio track, so should the driver interact with the students, some statements the driver may make can become damaging to the other district where they to use harsh or inappropriate language to get the children to behave while trying to operate the bus in a safe manner.
Screenshots or JPEG images are a better choice if an image must be shared, as it does not contain an audio track.
 
"Seat cover vandalism, graffiti, and slashing"
School Bus Video Cameras, such as rear-mounted and ceiling cameras, can provide Expert Witness Digital Evidence of who is vandalizing the district bus seats, and once it is widely known that the cameras record this information and the district enforces these violations, it is reasonable to expect a drastic reduction in those types of vandalism as the School Bus Video Cameras can provide a level of accountability to those who choose to hide tier bad behavior and vandalizing acts. Video Cameras for my school bus are a tool for managing and documenting incidents and events; they cannot enforce corrections of bad behaviors, which are the sole responsibility of the school district administrations.

"Driving While Texting claims made by children."
School Bus Video Cameras are frequently used to disprove claims made by the students against the driver. With Federal DWT mandates criminalizing Driving While Texting in a school bus application, it is important to be albeit refute these claims if they are false and discipline bad driving behaviors if the claims prove true.
 
"The Stop Arm Was Not Out, No Lights Flashing when I passed the bus."
School Bus Video Cameras Systems with Stop Arm Cameras are a proven means to document the unlawful passing of school buses while loading or unloading children. The School Bus Stop Arm Cameras can record via digital trigger and video on screen when the Stop Arm is Extended and what lights are flashing at the time of the incident, all time and date stamped for cart litigation use.

"The driver said something, touched or struck my child inappropriately."
The sequential video files can verify if the driver may have said something or done something wrong, it can also exonerate the driver of any false allegations made by children who bear false witnesses.

With the above in mind, you should be able to decide for yourself if the benefits of a School Bus Video Camera system in your school bus fleet are of value to your district and something you wish to pursue.

It is not only the transportation applications of older children that can benefit from a sequential unbiased, impartial documentation of what happens on a bus transporting children; Head Start  Pre-School Nursery School Child Safety Bus Camera Recorder systems can provide valuable documentation of incidents that can occur to very young pre-school children who are involved with the Head Start and Pre-school shuttle bus camera transports before they begin school. Even those in before and after school activities and Day Care programs where they pick up and drop off children from school programs incorporate Before & After Care School Child Day Care Pickup In-vehicle Shuttle Safety Cameras in their shuttle vehicles to provide risk management verification to address claims made by parents of children on their transport treatment and events.


Should you have any questions, or concerns, or require more information about various applications or School Bus Video Camera system configurations, we encourage you to let us know, and we will be happy to offer our 30+ years of market experience in sales and service of digital recording devices to respond to your concerns or questions.