On New York’s Long Island, a state appeals court threw out a $250 ticket in November, saying evidence from bus cameras isn’t enough to prove a violation. But the cameras can’t capture everything. Typically, the automatic cameras are engaged when a bus driver turns on a flashing stop sign, triggering a computer program that detects violations and sends them to reviewers to check before mailing a violation notice. Another technical issue: School bus cameras have flagged cars on different streets or in lanes separated by medians, where they’re not legally required to stop. The cameras might not show school bus markings mentioned in the law or whether students are actively getting on or off buses. Some states also are struggling with the limitations of cameras when it comes to enforcing laws requiring evidence police officers can see in person but cameras might not catch. Legislatures may have softened school bus penalties to gain consensus among skeptical lawmakers, authorities say. Some safety authorities object to new camera laws that reduced fines and excluded license points and other more punitive actions allowed when the same violations are caught in person by law enforcement. A school bus camera program in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was held up last year amid debates in the state legislature over the size of fines and their impact on low-income communities.īut there are several reasons why enforcement might not have been as effective as intended. Massachusetts and Oregon considered, but didn’t pass, similar legislation last year. Less driving but more deaths: Spike in traffic fatalities puzzles lawmakersĪlmost half of states have such laws now. That year, seven states passed laws to allow automatic camera surveillance to catch suspected violators. That was up from the 232,000 estimate for 2019. The recklessness may be part of a pattern of more aggressive driving noted by authorities that has caused more traffic deaths despite fewer miles driven overall since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.Ī survey of school bus drivers last year, conducted by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, estimated 242,000 vehicles illegally passed school buses in a single day. They highlight continued careless driving around school buses despite flashing stop signs and obvious camera lenses. Recent deaths during school bus stops include those of a parent and student in separate Texas crashes last year and of a high school student in Pennsylvania in 2022. But some states have found it hard to enforce relatively new laws allowing on-board bus camera systems that record the violations. That same month in Minnesota, a child leaving his school bus had to run to avoid being hit by a pickup truck.ĭrivers nationwide continue to barrel illegally past stopped school buses, endangering children and caregivers - and sometimes worse. In December, a mom on Long Island, New York, watched her young daughter get onto a school bus, then had to jump out of the way when a car came speeding past on the shoulder.
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