Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Campus Safety Magazine.
U.S. motorists can’t recall 68% of key information following a crash and 44% failed to identify the car at fault for a traffic incident, according to recent study. Another study found 70% of drivers want a build-in dashboard camera on their next new vehicle. Whatever their reasons may, footage from dash cams has been used countless times in motor vehicle crash investigations.
Several years ago, Liberty Public School District 53 in Liberty, Mo., used footage from school bus surveillance cameras to apprehend a hit-and-run driver who rear-ended a school bus (15:47).
“I was in the bus on the video [live stream] before anything happened. We actually could see the car, get a description, and the driver got the license,” Jeff Baird, the district’s former transportation manager who now works as a consultant for Transportant, told Campus Safety. “Within 17 minutes, the police had the car apprehended based on the direction he turned and that’s unheard of. I could also look in at the five cameras and see that no kids were hurt.”
The district has also used footage for investigations surrounding student wellness (18:10).
“I had a child that came home with a black and blue mark and a parent thought that the kid was abused,” Baird described. “And what the video showed was the bus attendant being very compassionate after a bad day. Then, once the kid got in their seat, the camera showed that the kid took the child’s seat next to them, lifted her leg up on the main seat and started slamming it down on her own leg about 50 times, and that created a black and blue mark. What that did is it built confidence in our operation with that family.”
In this interview, Baird also shares:
- Other school bus safety solution capabilities that enhance student safety (13:58)
- What he thinks are some must-haves for school bus safety technology solutions (19:00)
- Why school bus drivers must be included in school safety discussions (1:35)
- An incident at Liberty that highlights the importance of school bus driver training (3:25)
- The importance of sharing student medical concerns with school bus drivers (11:33)
- Challenges he faced as transportation manager (5:04)
- What he wishes he knew in his role as transportation manager that would have helped him do his job even better (21:13)
The full interview transcript can be found here or you can read an accompanying long-form article here.
You can also watch the full interview here or listen on the go on Apple or Spotify.
