Bus camera idea lauded, but price slows execution
At $1,000 per device, districts face struggle to pay upfront costs
A scary encounter with an 18-wheeler during a snowstorm last winter was the final straw for Galway Central School District bus driver Vickie Weaver, who says she has for years watched motorists run through her stop sign and endanger the children she shuttles to and from school each day.
An accident had backed up traffic along Route 67 and the tractor-trailer had been tailing the bus carrying about 12 students for about a mile, Weaver said.
“There was very low visibility... after we had cleared where the accident was, he decided to pass me,” she said. “If he had at all lost control of his tractor
trailer, we would have landed in a field with a creek in it.”
Weaver was recognized by the Galway school board earlier this month for pressing state officials to pass legislation that would allow school districts to use external traffic cameras that record images of illegally passing vehicles in order to coordinate with law enforcement and ticket the drivers.
The Saratoga County district is one of few in New York that has in recent years installed various traffic surveillance devices on its 35 buses to catch law-skirting motorists. Until the School Bus Camera Safety Act was signed into law this summer, the Saratoga sheriff ’s office was unable to impose penalties on drivers.
“If we had a close call or issue, law enforcement would just look at the video and have a conversation with the motorist, but they weren’t able to do any ticketing,” Galway Transportation Supervisor Bill Clark said.
Before the bus camera bill, a law enforcement officer had to witness a violation in order to issue a ticket, he said.
The new law imposes a $250 fine on motorists who pass a stopped school bus. The program would be operated by municipalities, and revenue generated by the tickets is expected to pay for the devices and maintenance before f lowing back to municipalities.
The approved cameras, which are common in other states, are mounted on or near the stop signs that swing out when a bus stops to let kids board and exit the vehicle. The bill also regulates how the images and video can be used, specifying that the photos or video may only show the front or rear license plate of vehicles while the bus is at a full stop.
Several upstate New York school districts, including Niagara Falls and Fallsburg Central in Sullivan County, were among the first to install safety cameras on buses after the legislation passed. Broome County this week announced it will simplify the process by picking up the initial tab for school districts within its borders.
Ballston Spa Central School
District has plans to add traffic cameras to buses, a spokesman for the district said, although a timeline for implementation is unclear. In Long Island’s Suffolk County, criticism over local governments benefiting from school bus penalties prompted its County Legislature to add language designating the revenue generated by stop-arm cameras for traffic and school safety.
But most schools in the state are taking a wait-and-see approach, citing upfront costs, according to New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) Executive Director David Christopher.
“For those jumping on board, they are in areas where they’ve already done the analysis,” Christopher said. “We still are learning more and more about this. Certainly, there are districts and municipalities in our state that just can’t afford to do this. At $1,000 a bus, if you have 20 to 40 buses in a particular bus f leet, it adds up.”
Surveys by the NYAPT consistently indicate that school bus drivers in New York see about 50,000 improper passes per day.
Shannon Shine, superintendent of Mohonasen schools in Schenectady County, said he had questions about how the revenue from ticketing would be divided between cities, towns, villages and counties.
“Since the multiple municipalities requirements appear a bit complicated, it might be best in this instance to let others go out front on this and work out the wrinkles prior to us moving forward,” Shine said. “I’m certainly in favor, though, as this appears to be a well-intended initiative in regards to enhancing student safety.”
Surveys by the NYAPT consistently indicate that school bus drivers in New York see about 50,000 improper passes per day.