School Bus Camera Program Facing Legal Challenges

The school bus safety program, which uses cameras to issue tickets to drivers passing school buses with red lights flashing, is under scrutiny in two legal actions on Long Island.

A Suffolk driver challenged his $250 automated ticket in state Appellate Court after his arguments were rejected by the county’s Traffic and Parking Violation Agency. The higher court ruled in his favor and tossed the violation, agreeing with his contention that the evidence failed to prove the vehicle was a bus and did not show it was stopped to discharge or pick up passengers. In addition, the plaintiff successfully argued that the video did not capture the identifying markings of the bus–rear signage or warning lights–and did not show anyone getting on or off it.

A driver in Nassau used similar arguments in filing suit to nullify the program and have the millions in fines collected by the Town of Hempstead returned. The class action alleges that the program conflicts with state law and that the town “has been unjustly enriched by collecting fines.”

“It's a perplexing decision,” Paul Sabatino, a municipal law expert, said of the appellate case. “I have a hard time understanding what the court's rationale was other than they want more than technology to establish the violation. If that's the case, they, in fact, have nullified the whole system.”

According to Sabatino, “The judges are basically saying you can't rely on just the video system. So, you're going to have to bring the bus driver in every time you have one of these tickets. What’s the bus driver going to remember–where he was on a particular day, whether it was a green car or a purple car? You’re going to shut down the entire school bus system because there's a shortage of bus drivers to begin with.” The attorney, a former counsel to the Suffolk Legislature, suggested that the case be appealed.

File Photo

The state legislature passed enabling legislation in 2019 allowing municipalities to adopt the bus camera system, with both Suffolk and Hempstead opting in, while Suffolk townships and Nassau County chose not to participate. The program, designed to promote safety for children using buses for school transportation, has been a cash cow for Suffolk, with about $25 million coming in per year. From that, the county gets 55%, and the company running the program, BusPatrol, keeps 45% from more than 100,000 tickets issued per year. The county also taps motorists for cash under its red light program, another bane for drivers believing that the technology is an additional way for the government to pick their pockets.

Fines escalate from the initial $250 to $300 if a second school bus violation is posted within 18 months. Unlike moving violations written by police officers, the tickets don’t add points to a driver’s license. If the Long Island legal challenges stand, the program could be affected statewide.