Amd SS375, 227 & 510, add SS1174-a & 223-a, V & T L; amd SS3621 & 3623-a, Ed L; amd SS120.00 & 125.10, Pen L
Enacts the "school bus camera safety act" to authorize the installation and use of photo monitoring devices on school buses to detect and record vehicles illegally passing or overtaking a school bus; provides for owner liability of a motor vehicle detected by a camera to have illegally passed or overtaken a school bus; provides that liability shall be a civil fine equal to the traffic infraction fine imposed therefor; authorizes school districts to receive state aid for the purchase of such cameras; includes within the class A misdemeanor of assault in the third degree, the causation of physical injury to another person while passing or overtaking a stopped school bus; includes within the class E felony of criminally negligent homicide, the causation of death to another person while passing or overtaking a stopped school bus.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7350A
SPONSOR: Magnarelli TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the
education law, in relation to authorizing the installation and use of
safety cameras on school buses for the purpose of monitoring overtaking
and passing of school bus violations; to amend the vehicle and traffic
law, in relation to owner liability for an operator illegally overtaking
or passing a school bus; and to amend the penal law, in relation to
assault in the third degree and criminally negligent homicide
PURPOSE: To enact the "School Bus Camera Safety Act" to authorize the
installation and use of photo monitoring devices on school buses to
detect and record vehicles illegally passing or overtaking a school bus.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Creates the title of the bill as the "School Bus Camera Safe-
ty Act."
Section 2: Amends VTL to allow buses to have stop arm cameras installed.
Section 3: Adds new section 1174-A to VTL to define "school bus safety
cameras" as "automated photo monitoring devices affixed to a school bus
and designed to detect and store an image of motor vehicles which over-
take or pass school buses in violation of state law which prohibits the
passing of stopped school buses.
This section allows school districts to install and use school bus safe-
ty cameras and to contract with law enforcement agencies to process and
assess fines for violations. It also allows schools to contract with
private vendors for the installation, operation, notice processing and
administration and maintenance of school bus safety cameras.
Further it allows schools to enter into intergovernmental agreements
with local governing authorities to offset the expenses relating to the
ongoing operation of school bus safety cameras, provided that the net
proceeds of any penalty, after the expenses of administration, collected
by a traffic violations bureau or court shall be experiaed for programs
related to improving public safety and/or school district safety in the
municipality in which the violation occurred.
Provides that photos shall only show the front or rear license plate of
vehicles while the bus is at a full stop. Establishes that fines for
violations of the law prohibiting passing stopped school buses, if such
violation is recorded by a school bus safety camera and.a ticket issued,
shall be equal to the fines assessed for violations witnessed by law
enforcement officers in VTL Section 1174. The fines would be: $250-$400
for first violation, $600-$750 for section violation within three years,
and $750-$1,000 for third violation within three years.
Establishes the process whereby law enforcement will inspect photograph-
ic evidence of violations and shall issue tickets with a copy of the
photo. It requires that any photos that are not found to depict or
result in liability of a violation of the law prohibiting passing a
stopped school bus be destroyed within two days.
This section also clarifies that a conviction due to photographic
evidence from a school bus safety camera of a violation of passing a
stopped school bus shall not be made part of the operating record of a
driver or used of insurance purposes in the provision of motor vehicle
insurance coverage. (Violations captured by cameras will not result in
points on license for insurance purposes, but they will result in the
same amount of fines as those cited without use of the cameras.)
Provides that the tickets ("simplified traffic informations") for
violations shall contain the names, address registration number and
details of where such violation is alleged to take place, also it shall
contain information advising the person being charged where they may
contest it and that they are required to respond or they will be deemed
liable for the violation if they fail to respond. Provides an exemption
for vehicle owners from liability if it can be proved that the vehicle
was stolen or that the owner is a lessor of such vehicle. Further, if
the owner who is liable for a violation under this section was not the
actual operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation, the owner
may maintain an action for indemnification against the operator.
The section also provides that the school bus safety cameras shall be
used solely for the purposes of carrying out photo-monitoring
violations of passing stopped school buses.
Section 4: Amends Education Law Section 3621 to add a new subdivision 16
to define school bus safety cameras.
Section 5: Amends Section 3623-a of the education law to allow school
districts to receive state aid transportation funding for reimbursement
for purchases of the school bus safety cameras.
Section 6: Amends Section 227 of the vehicle and traffic law to estab-
lish a complete defense against the alleged violations for owners of
vehicles charged with a violation due to photographic evidence of their
vehicle having passed a stopped school bus, if they are found by a hear-
ing officer to have not in fact have been in operation of their own
vehicle at the time of which the violation was recorded by the school
bus safety camera.
Section 7: Amends Section 510 of the vehicle and traffic law to provide
that a license would be suspended for up to sixty days for motorists who
have been convicted multiple times of violating Section 1174.
Section 8: Amends Section 120 of the penal law to make it a crime of
assault in the third degree, a class A misdemeanor, to injure an indi-
vidual while in the act of illegally passing a stopped school bus.
Section 9: Amends Section 125..10 of the penal law to make it a crime of
criminally negligent homicide, a Class E felony, to cause the death of
another person while passing a stopped school bus.
Section 10: Establishes the school bus safety education program. Under
this section, the commissioner shall, in conjunction with the Governor's
Traffic Safety Committee, the departments of education and transporta-
tion, the division of state police, and the state comprehensive school
bus driver safety training council, design and implement a public educa-
tion program to educate motorists upon the dangers of passing or over-
taking a school bus and to promote school bus safety.
Section 11: Provides the effective date.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill.
JUSTIFICATION: This legislation specifically would allow school
districts and school bus contractors to install school bus safety
cameras on their school buses that would engage once the Stop Arm of the
bus is extended when the bus comes to a stop to pick up or discharge
students. The camera would capture images of the vehicle and license
plate and those images would be used to issue a summons to the regis-
tered owner of the vehicle.
Currently, a ticket can be issued only by a police officer who witnesses
the violation. It permits the evidence taken from those cameras to be
used in prosecuting violators of Section 1174 of the Vehicle and Traffic
Law.
Many efforts in New York State have already been undertaken to combat
this problem, with some positive results, such as OPERATION SAFE STOP.
However, the numbers of incidents of violations continues to be alarm-
ing. A recent one-day survey done by the NYS Association of School Pupil
Transportation yielded astounding results and underscore the need for
this legislation. On May 13t, 2013, the Association found that the 236
school bus drivers who participated in the survey in 21 school districts
in New York in rural, urban and small city settings, reported 306 ille-
gal passes including 6 "right side" passes. That represents an ' average
of 1.28 illegal passes per school bus. That number, if extrapolated,
would bring the estimated number of illegal passes in the state to over
64,000 on that date alone.
Other studies done have estimated that more than 50,000 drivers through-
out New York on a single school day illegally pass stopped school buses.
Several other states have enacted legislation similar to this bill in
response to a growing national concern over illegal passing or 'stop arm
violations. This legislation would add New York to the growing list of
states that recognize the safety of our children while being transported
back and forth to school should be of paramount importance. States that
have enacted similar laws include: Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina,
Iowa, Virginia, Connecticut, and Washington.
The use of stop arm cameras (school bus safety cameras) is necessary to
prevent the casualties from dangerous motorists who ignore current law.
The school bus safety act will increase enforcement of laws already on
the book and will significantly lessen the numbers of incidents of
violations of the law that continue to compromise the safety of our
students.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: Minimal. Costs incurred by implementing this
legislation is expected to be recovered through fines from convictions
for violations.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect the November first, follow-
ing enactment, except that sections four, five, and ten shall take
effect on the first of April next succeeding the effective date of this
act.
