Rockland's First School District Opts-In for County School Bus Safety Program

by Rockland Daily Staff

After announcing the new Rockland County School Bus Safety program, as reported here, Rockland County Executive Ed Day reported that the Pearl River School District is the first district to opt into the program officially.

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

 "I'm proud to see that in less than one month since we presented this program to school leaders in Rockland, a district acknowledged the value and opted in expeditiously," said Day. "I'm hopeful the rest of our school districts, private and public, will follow Pearl River's lead and opt in soon." 

A 30-day warning and public notice period will begin once 25% of buses within a district are equipped with stop-arm cameras, after which enforcement will begin. 

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

• 1st Violation $250 
  
• 2nd Violation $275 
• 3rd Violation $300 

(within an 18-month period)

Photo Credit: Flickr