A freeze on court hearings will force drivers challenging their school bus camera tickets to wait awhile before their cases can be heard, according to Suffolk officials. The move puts thousands of cases in limbo, but the good news is, defendants will not rack up late penalties while the county works to get its Traffic and Parking Violations Agency back on track.
The hearing process screeched to a halt after the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division agreed with a defendant that the county’s red light ticket system is flawed, leading to the dismissal of five citations. A number of school buses in Suffolk are equipped with cameras that capture vehicles that illegally pass them when their red warning lights are flashing. The court agreed that the cameras do not prove the photos are from school buses that are dropping off or picking up students. Other accused violators argue that in the case of divided highways, especially those with two lanes on either side, vehicles passing in the opposite lanes should not be subject to the $250 fines.
Since December, more than 9,000 disputed tickets have piled up and no timetable has been provided by county officials as to when the system may get ironed out.
“There has to be a complete review of the program,” said County Executive Edward Romaine. “We need to make sure these tickets are issued fairly.” Romaine shared the concern of drivers being ticketed while on the other side of divided highways such as William Floyd Parkway. “We’re looking at a host of things since sometimes a bus would stop and there would be no kids, and people would still get a ticket.” According to Romaine, Suffolk issues more bus tickets than other parts of the state. “I don’t think our drivers are so bad that we’re so different. I believe in fairness over revenue. The last administration made revenue their major thing and I just want to make sure our program is fair.”
The program is lucrative for the company that manages the system, BusPatrol, a Virginia-based outfit that gets 45% of the fines paid. With approximately 102,600 school bus camera tickets issued in 2023, about $21 million was generated. For vehicle owners who receive the dreaded summonses in the mail, the program rates in popularity alongside Suffolk’s Red Light Camera scheme, programs that were initiated under former County Executive Steve Bellone. Proponents argue that the automated systems enhance highway safety.