Numerous residents in the 5 Towns area have recently raised concerns after receiving unexpected fines of $250 for allegedly passing stopped yellow school buses. Residents question whether these fines are justified, particularly in cases where the driver explicitly signals for them to proceed or when the red stop signs are not deployed. The issue has sparked discussions about the implementation of legislation proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2019, which introduced the use of cameras to capture violations by motorists who pass stopped school buses.
Under the Cuomo legislation, cameras can be affixed to the stop arms extending from school buses to record drivers disregarding the stopped bus. Offenders caught on camera would face a fine of $250 per violation without incurring any points on their driver’s license or insurance penalties. The legislation resulted from a long-standing effort by Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, who advocated for the use of cameras following his observations of vehicles passing school buses with extended stop arms along James Street in Syracuse.
A survey conducted by the New York Association for Pupil Transportation revealed that up to 50,000 cars per day pass stopped operational school buses across the state. Furthermore, the survey found that 2,047 cars per day passed stopped buses on the right side, where students typically exit.
The recent fines imposed on local residents have prompted discussions about the proper enforcement of the law. While the legislation allows school districts to request the installation of bus cameras from the relevant municipalities, it is ultimately up to the local police to issue tickets to violators caught on camera.
As the issue unfolds, residents and officials are engaging in dialogue to ensure that the enforcement of school bus safety regulations strikes the right balance between maintaining road safety and avoiding unnecessary penalties for motorists who may have valid reasons for passing a stopped school bus.
Hey! Guess who approved these fines being issues in Nassau County? Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman!
That’s right! The town and county had to opt-in to fine their residents in this manner, notwithstanding the state law, which has been around since before COVID.
So give both Blakeman and Clavin a big thank you by VOTING THEM OUT!!!!!
How about don’t pass stopped school busses!!
“residents and officials are engaging in dialogue”
Which officials??? Blakeman and Clavin are a disaster and view the Five Towns as their personal piggy banks while assuming we’ll vote for them. Never again!!
Mendy – what if the driver waves you by?
Remember that our politicians including Blakeman and Clavin aren’t just some figureheads that come to our shul dinners and shake hands and pay lip service to supporting Israel by signing some politically self serving resolution.
They are using us as their personal piggy banks. And it needs to stop. DONT VOTE FOR THEM!!
Agreed that no one should pass a stopped school bus but I received a ticket for passing a school bus when the driver signaled me to go!
I received a ticket for passing a school bus that was in the process of putting out the stop sign on the opposite side of traffic across 3 lanes of traffic.
Please explain how I am supposed to stop without causing a pileup on my side of the road if the stop sign only started opening as I passed the bus!?!
By the way I contested the ticket and now I have been waiting for 2.5 months for a court date.
Got a ticket after the bus driver waived me by. Per law the driver has the authority to waive a car by. This is not right! 😡
I agree nobody should pass buses especially as almost all residents have kids on these buses and should understand!
You can get a ticket even if the driver waves you through. Bus drivers should be warned not to wave anyone by. That’s breaking the law.
I’m all for fines for people who pass stopped busses. Maybe don’t put children at risk. (And if you say the driver waved you by, video it as proof… The drivers shouldn’t be waving people by when they have the stop sign out, if people can drive past, turn off the red lights.)
If the bus wants people up stop then they need to put on their red stop sign.
I’ve seen many drivers just stopped at the side of the road eating a sandwich.
I passed a school bus on peninsula blvd THREE lanes over in the opposite direction. It’s an extreme hazard to stop on peninsula for a bus three lanes away!!!! It is illegal for kids to cross over the yellow line. This is a SCAM beyond. And needs to be fixed!!!!
I passed a school bus on peninsula blvd THREE lanes over in the opposite direction. It’s an extreme hazard to stop on peninsula for a bus three lanes away!!!! It is illegal for kids to cross over the yellow line. This is a SCAM beyond. And needs to be fixed!!!!
I just got one of these tickets. Video shows me 3 lanes away on the opposite side of traffic, and I’m going full speed passing the bus as the sign comes up. It would have been impossible and pointless for me to stop.
I was on peninsula Blvd four lanes over and stopped by a red light and my view of the school bus was obstructed until I was passing it and I got a ticket in the mail
This is not what the intention of the law
Yes, I received a fine with a still picture of the car way ahead of the bus. The car was parked and the violation says we passed the bus on the picture. It is false. Who do we contact??
$250 vs dead child….
Stop being so arrogant and full of yourselves always stuck in your cell phones and texting driving zipping around driving the wrong way running stop signs ignoring traffic laws while waiting for five towns central to alert you to a police trip. Start driving safe and you won’t receive these tickets. And for those of you that did pay the ticket and be happy you didn’t kill a child. Thank you Bruce Blakeman thank you Don Calvin!
While we’re on the subject of violations, who are these people that double park on central Avenue on a Friday? Make illegal U TURNS ON CENTRAL AVE AND BROADWAY IN THE 5 towns with traffic on both sides?? And we’re supposed to let them and move over. Just disgusting and arrogant.. I say go back to …. …. We prefer residents who are respectful to all
I too got a ticket on a busy street …bus was parked at the curb and I was traveling on the outer lane. Dangerous to stop and the bus was parked!! I paid the 250 fine for fear of the troubles I would have if I chose to not pay it or fight it.
I’ve lived in our neighborhood for almost 60 years. and didn’t dare double park, make illegal U turns, or honk loudly and aggressively at the driver in front of me. We would never even think of passing a stopped school bus. We valued the lives of all the children and respected the rules. We would like that to continue. People who live here…even relative newcomers…this not the city or one of the boros. You moved here because it is different and nicer. Let’s keep it that way…And also remember to stop fully at all the stop signs.
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Want to know what happened to those who received the ticket on Peninsula. Was it dismissed?
Have you received a citation for passing a school bus? A new initiative in New York is equipping school bus stop-arms with cameras to ticket drivers who illegally pass the bus. The problem is these cameras do not account for circumstances in which it is legal to pass, for example when the bus driver waives you on, or when you are already in the process of passing the bus when the driver extends the stop-arm. Tickets from stop-arm cameras may be infringing on your civil rights! If you would like to be part of a class action trying to recover fines paid under such circumstances, plese fill out the following inquiry form https://forms.gle/pnzT1fzQCv64TdmA9.
I just got 2 tickets. Both for driving on Peninsula Blvd on the other side of the Blvd from where a bus was parked. The buses were both off to the side of the road when they pulled the stop sign. There was no way to see the sign even after I was through them and I was nowhere near any children. I’ve been driving for over 35 years and never was ticketed like this. This is $500 of tickets in 3 weeks for nearly invisible stop signs. Why not just have everyone stop driving?
has everyone forgotten the term JAYWALKING? why are buses depositing or picking up children in areas that require them to JAYWALK? i thought jaywalking was against the law. why are we teaching kids to jaywalk and PENALIZING drivers on opposite sides of a yellow/double yellow line for bus stop signs. Seriously? this is a tacit money trap scam. not a kid safety program. a kid safety program would require bus companies and drivers to deposit school children safely, not encourage children to jaywalk in traffic. who among you would cosign their kid crossing a busy street with traffic going in opposite directions vs. having the bus driver make a stop on both sides of the road? instead, state and local county officials have found a way to source their wasteful budgets via $250+ fines Would a savvy esq please file a class action in nassau n suffolk county, ny regarding these conflicting laws.
I just received a ticket when I did stop for the bus, watched the child get off and go fully into their house, and was then waved by the driver to go. The images need to be timestamped to show how long the driver waited before moving. It’s a crappy system. No link to see the video. I am very angry for being penalized for doing the right thing. Also, if I go right this I will have to lose money to take off work, as well as probably pay a court fee…despite having done nothing wrong. How do we fix this?!
Although the original intent of the law is very good and I’ve seen some very bad drivers I really feel that many of us are being preyed on for revenue
Sure enough I was on Broadway with a full line of traffic on the other side my luck turns out there was a school bus which I never noticed until I got the ticket because my view is blocked by The cars on the other side
Then of course we have all those traffic cameras all over the place in Queens one time I was driving 25 miles an hour all Sun on The bus pulls out without signaling in order to avoid the bus I accelerated to around 35 mph sure enough that’s where the traffic light was and I got a ticket what was I supposed to do slam it to the bus or swerve into the left lane on the opposite side of the street
I got especially angry when nothing ever happens to those crazy drivers on the Cross Island parkway or the southern state that are drag racing how many times have I had to flee into the right lane to save my life getting hit by a crazy drag racer yet nothing ever happens to these people ever unless they get into an accident which I’ve seen
$250 for a first offense when you can’t even see the bus is enraging
My wife got 2 tickets from alertbus.com and we were going to pay, but then I watched an HBO documentary “Telemarketers” and started doing some digging. Here’s the story that I found that perfectly describes this scam:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/17/2187476/-Highway-Robbery-Beware-the-school-bus-camera-ticket-scam
First, outside companies lobby local legislators to increase fines for passing a school bus, then they offer “services” to install free cameras, issue bogus tickets and kick back 40% or less of collected fines back to the corrupt local officials.
Worst part they are not even affiliated with Nassau Traffic enforcement agency, as stated on these so called tickets. So unlike Red light camera violations, which you can see online, can dispute and get a court date for a hearing, these tickets are always deny you a court appearance. You cannot see video online going to their bogus portal, and when you call “customer service” they are completely clueless, reading from the script asking you to just pay basically. And yes, “The supervisor” who was suppose to follow up with you never calls back, probably busy making phone calls soliciting funds for a bogus “Police unions”?
We took our chances and we are not going to pay these tickets to some highly suspicious mail box in Virginia or South Carolina.
I received two within a month. Both times my car is in motion BEFORE the stop arm opens up. If it’s one thing I am particular about, it’s stopping for a school bus. I’m not paying these bogus fines and waiting to contest both of them.
I do believe people who run bus stop signal should get fined…but they have to train drivers not to activate stop sign then wave on drivers due to mistake…bus was sitting on main road by hotdog truck at 1250pm…not picking up kids…getting lunch..has to be a review of operation…
Why are tickets being given when they throw the red lights on when you’re already on the side of the bus. I understand if you pass but not when you’re already next to the bus.
I received a ticket for one of these violations. I called them up and advised their representative that their video evidence shows the bus driver extending their arm out the window for me to proceed. They told me they would send me a new notice. Nothing was ever received.
A year later, they sent me a notice for 275.00 overdue. What a scam!