Huron County OPP are celebrating a successful recent front-line policing grant that helped them run a school safety campaign.
The program was a partnership between the Town of Goderich, Municipality of Central Huron, and Avon Maitland District School Board. Constable Craig Soldan says the grant, which was applied for in 2023, allowed the OPP to be more present in local school zones in September and October this year.
"So almost every school day there was an officer assigned to each school area and as a result there was 240 extra hours that were spent patrolling around the school zones to make sure that kids were arriving to school safety and that motorists were abiding by the laws in the area, the speed zones," Soldan shared. "There's some frustration sometimes with motorists that aren't stopping for school bus lights and arms, the stop arms that are activated. So we always get some complaints and issues and we hope that no one ever gets hit by a vehicle. But it was an excellent opportunity to interact with the kids and provide that education to the public."
Soldan says when school buses are stopping to either pick up or drop off students, you absolutely have to stop for them legally.
"If you see the yellow lights on the school bus, that's indicating they're about to stop, and then when you do see the red light flashing that means they are stopping or stopped, and then finally you'll see the stop arm swing out from beside the bus," Soldan explained. "At no point during any of those segments of light activation should you ever pass a bus on either side of the road. You can always assume there's gonna be a child or more than one child either getting off or entering onto the bus from one side of the road."
Failing to stop for buses with flashing lights and the stop arm out could result in a collision with a child, which Soldan says is the worst case scenario, but at best drivers will see a hefty fine and loss of demerit points.
The Huron Community Safety and Well-Being Plan identified community security as a priority pillar and allocating grant funds to ensure school attendees are safe is of vital importance.
"As a result of grant funding and community partnerships, the Huron OPP dedicated over 240 hours in and around Huron County schools. Our commitment to community safety and well-being through a variety of high visibility patrols remains a priority," shared Inspector Jason Younan, Detachment Commander of the Huron County OPP.