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Armed with new stop-arm cameras, Ottawa police had laid 60 charges by Halloween against motorists who blew by school buses as they stopped for kids.

Two cameras were installed on school buses in June and four more added in September.

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The safety system involves four cameras installed on the exterior of each bus, which capture video of vehicles passing stopped school buses.

The fine for passing a stopped school bus with its lights flashing and stop-arm extended is $490.

As is the case with red light traffic cameras, the registered owner of the vehicle is liable for the offence even if they were not the driver at the time.

All vehicles travelling in both directions must stop when a school bus has come to a complete stop with the stop-arm extended and lights flashing, except on divided roadways on which vehicles moving in the opposite direction of the bus don’t have to stop.

The camera installations are funded by a $120,000 permanent school bus stop-arm camera program announced in May.