Senator Young: School Bus Cameras Would Nab Passing Drivers

ALBANY – Senator Catharine Young (R,I,C – Olean) wants to give school districts jurisdiction to use cameras as a means to catch negligent drivers who speed past school buses that have activated their flashing lights and extended their stop-sign arms.

She has introduced legislation that will allow the footage taken by cameras installed on buses to be used as evidence in prosecuting anyone who violates the law. The bill also will up the ante for those who fail to stop for children passing in front of school buses.

"When we transport our children to and from school, we have an important responsibility to do everything we can to keep those children safe. Even though school buses are now equipped with flashing stop signs and lights, it just doesn't seem to register with some drivers that they are legally supposed to stop. These negligent drivers are breaking the law and putting our children at risk,” said Senator Young.

Under Senator Young’s measure, authorization will be given to place video cameras on school buses to capture motorist violations and will allow the use of photographs taken to be used as evidence in the prosecution of such offenses.

The legislation also raises the penalties imposed when physical harm is caused to a child and makes it a class E felony of criminally negligent homicide when a child is killed when a stopped school bus is passed.

“If motorists do not respect school buses the way they should, then they should be prosecuted. In other states, having cameras on buses have proven to change people's behavior and made them slow down and stop when they are required to. This bill provides a great tool available to localities, working with the police department, to hopefully take care of a problem before somebody gets severely hurt or worse,” said Senator Young.

Senator Young said over the past few years several children have been killed and in the five year period from 2002 to 2007, there were 75 children reported injured by vehicles that had passed their stopped school buses.

New York State has over 55,000 school buses transporting more than 2.3 million children each day.

The NY Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) conducted a recent study that estimated motorists illegally pass stopped school buses more than 50,000 times a day, putting the safety of millions of children in jeopardy.

Peter Mannella, Executive Director of NYAPT stated, “We strongly support this legislation as vital to our ability to turn back the high rates of illegal passing in our State. The fact that there are 50,000 illegal passes each day is unconscionable and unacceptable. Children are at risk because of this illegal behavior by adult motorists. Parents, educators and elected officials should be irate that their neighbors are putting children at risk.”

The fine for passing a stopped school bus in New York State ranges from a minimum of $250 for a first violation to a maximum of $1,000 for three violations in three years. In addition, if you are convicted of three such violations in three years, you can face a maximum fine of $1,000 and your license will be revoked for a minimum of six months.