The Pennsylvania Senate has passed a bill that is set to make a program to help protect those taking the school bus permanent.
Senate Bill 851 concerns a program that started in 2018 that would extend and improve the school bus stop-arm automated enforcement program. The program included 40 participating school districts initially. The districts equipped 2500 school buses with cameras that recorded vehicles that did not stop when buses stopped to drop off or pick up children. Over 4000 violations have been recorded since the start of the program.
While the program was set to expire this week, the bill makes it permanent and will improve interaction with law enforcement and streamlines the appeals process. Under state law, if the driver illegally passes a stopped school bus, the district will send the owner of the car a police vetted violation in the mail. The owner would be responsible for a $300 fine, but they have the option to appeal the violation through PennDOT and then a district judge after the PennDOT appeal is complete.
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