Suffolk School Bus Drivers Run Red Lights With No Consequences: AG

Many New York school bus drivers carrying children can violate as many red light camera laws as they wish and will never get in trouble, according to an investigation by the office of Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman that was released Tuesday.

The investigation revealed there were nearly 1,500 red light camera violations by school bus companies in Suffolk and Westchester counties over a three-year period. Under New York State Law, these violations are not required to be reported to the DMV. This means a bus driver can receive an infinite number of red light camera tickets and keep their job, the AG says.

Schneiderman is calling this law a “safety loophole” that needs to be changed “before it turns tragic.”

The AG collected and analyzed data from 15 randomly selected school bus companies in Suffolk and Westchester counties. Nine Suffolk County bus companies were subpoenaed as part of the investigation, which revealed:

• The companies amassed 1,199 red light tickets from 2014 to 2016, including 368 in 2014, 409 in 2015 and 422 in 2016.
• There were 154 bus drivers who were repeat offenders.

The investigation also revealed six bus companies from Westchester County amassed 296 red light tickets, with 20 drivers who were repeat offenders. Below is a video of a school bus running a red light in Yonkers in June 2016.

“Bus companies can rack up red light camera violations – yet have no legal obligation to report them to the state, or even use them as part of their evaluation of drivers,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “It’s time for action to protect our kids by requiring bus companies to report red light violations to the state and the school districts they serve, and to use those violations in driver evaluations.”

Are Red Light Cameras The Problem?

Some Suffolk County residents believe the red light camera program is just a way for the county to make more money, a WSHU report says. The county's red light camera program brought in $28 million in revenue in 2014, according to WSHU. Legis. Robert Trotta, R-Fort Salonga, previously called for the suspension of the county's red light camera program.

Suffolk County even has its own “Red Light Robin Hood” in Stephen Ruth, of Centereach, who has been arrested for damaging and tampering with red light cameras across the county on more than one occasion.
Ruth has a YouTube video of himself tampering with the cameras and encouraging others to do the same. That video has been viewed more than 170,000 times.

A 2016 report by Newsday says nearly half of the intersections that have red light cameras in Suffolk have seen an increase in accidents.

• Is there a problem with red light cameras in Suffolk County? Let us know in the comments below.

The ‘Loophole’

There’s an average of 115 fatal crashes that involve school buses every year across the country, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s 2017 Report on School Safety.

School bus crashes make up a small amount of all fatal motor vehicle crashes due to the protections in place, including licensing, training, vehicle standards, and vehicle inspections. The AG says, however, that the red light “loophole” could be risking the lives of more than 2.3 million children in New York who ride on school buses every day.

The AG is calling for a change in state law to require bus companies to report red light camera violations to the state and school districts. These violation reports would also be taken into consideration when assessing the drivers, the AG says.

When a bus driver violates a red light camera law three times during an 18-month period, the tickets are directly sent to the bus company. However, if that driver got three red light tickets from a police officer during that same timeframe, the driver would get nine points on their driver’s license and be disqualified from operating a school bus for a year, the AG says.

Some Suffolk County public officials are in support of the law change.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said, “Passenger and pedestrian safety is of utmost importance to us in Suffolk County, and this investigation will play a critical role in holding individuals accountable for their actions on our roads.”

Suffolk County Legis. Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory said, “School buses transport our most precious cargo – our children. Anything we can do to ensure them a safer trip must be a priority.”

School bus companies are required to submit driving reports for miles traveled, convictions and accidents, and the number of convictions and accidents per ten thousand miles traveled. They are also required to review employees' driving records at least once every 12 months, and consider any evidence that the bus driver violated applicable provisions of the vehicle and traffic law, the AG says.

The AG is proposing changes in state law to add the missing piece: reporting red light camera violations. Under these changes, the AG says school bus companies should be required by law to:

• Maintain copies of all red light camera violations received by the school bus companies and its school bus drivers.
• Report the number of red light camera violations in the annual affidavit of compliance filed with the DMV.
• Consider red light camera violations in its annual assessment of its drivers; and drivers who accumulate three red light camera violations should be disqualified from driving for a one-year period.
• Provide an annual report to the school districts that they service of their driver’s records, including a record of the red light camera violations issued and who was driving.

Should school bus drivers be held accountable for their red light camera violations? Tell us in the comments section below.

Image via AG's office