I read the article, “Family inspires law for bus monitoring systems” [Gazette, March 29] about a bill allowing school buses to install cameras on their “stop” arms to record violators’ license plates as they pass. As a longtime local school bus driver, I have seen this dangerous behavior up close. It is can be frightening and potentially life-threatening. The challenge seems to be deciding who will fund these devices if town budgets and bus companies claim they can’t cover costs.

I have a proposal: Let the fines go directlty to reimbursing the parties who invest in the equipment. How much would it cost to equip buses’ stop arms with cameras linked to their (existing) onboard video recorders? How often do drivers run the red lights on school buses? Multiply that times $250 (or more) and I would guess the payback period would be reasonable.

I would hope that stiff automatic fines for this behavior would deter bad driving in the future.

Robert Cabral

Amherst