The County Executive’s Corner: “Saving Children One Ticket at a Time” (By County Executive Ed Day)

Every day in New York State, an estimated 50,000 drivers illegally pass stopped school buses, putting the lives and safety of children at risk.

As a father, and former member of law enforcement, it has always boggled my mind that some drivers believe those few seconds of their time waiting for a school bus is more important than a child’s life.

To make roads safer for our children, the County of Rockland partnered with company BusPatrol to launch a violator-funded business model allowing districts to equip school buses with cameras on the bus stop-arms at no-cost.

It’s been a year since the County of Rockland announced our new child safety initiative aimed at cracking down on drivers putting children at risk. I’m proud to announce all districts have opted in and buses have been equipped with stop-arm cameras at no-cost to all districts, with the final East Ramapo Central School District in the process of having their fleet equipped.

Since inception, 9,304 tickets have been issued countywide & I applaud all of our schools for opting in as this program, according to BusPatrol, has a proven track record of reducing the rate of illegal passings by up to 30% year over year.

A few reminders for drivers:

 When the school bus stop arm is extended, vehicles in all lanes must come to a complete stop.

 It is illegal to pass a school bus with its stop arm extended, regardless of the number of lanes or direction of traffic.

 Wait for the school bus stop arm to retract and for the bus to resume motion before proceeding.

Drivers heed our warning; those caught by cameras illegally passing activated stop-arms on school buses will be issued the following penalties by mail:

1st Violation $250

2nd Violation $275

3rd Violation $300

(within 18-month period)

That pales in comparison to the innocent lives your impatience places at risk every single time you blow past a bus with the stop-arm down.

For those who receive a citation, they can be paid at AlertBus.com. You can also submit payments or ask questions regarding a citation to 877-594-7080.