Illegal School Bus Passers In Lower Merion, Narberth To Be Fined $300

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — School bus stop sign scofflaws in Lower Merion and Narberth, you're on notice.

At Wednesday's Police Committee meeting in Lower Merion Township, officials gave a unanimous go-ahead for Lower Merion Police and the Lower Merion School District to launch a program that will issue fines to drivers who illegally pass school buses in the fall.

District school buses will be outfitted with high-definition cameras on their stop arms. These cameras will capture photos of vehicles that illegally pass them, and the drivers will be issued $300 fines.

Revenue generated from the fines will be divided between the School Bus Safety Grant Program Account, Lower Merion Police, the program's administrator, and the district.

BusPatrol will administer the camera program and charge the district a monthly technology Fee, which is deducted directly from the revenue payments to the district. The district will not receive any revenue unless at least 169 violations are paid each month.

Lower Merion Police Superintendent Andy Block at Wednesday's meeting said video captured of violating vehicles will be sent to the department, then officers will confirm whether a violation occurred, and, if so, the vehicle's owner will be issued the citation.

Those issued citations can file appeals and appear at a hearing hosted by PennDOT, Block said. If the cited person so chooses, the appeal can be pushed to the magistrate's office. On average, Block said one or two citations a year are appealed at the magistrate level.

"We think it's very important with respect to the safety of our school children that are boarding the buses on a daily basis," Block said.

He touted the success of a similar program that was in place in Upper Moreland when he served as police chief, saying Upper Moreland saw 275 to 300 violations a month.

Lower Merion Township Board of Commissioners President Todd Sinai said he has received a "ton of email" about this topic.

"Constituents are saying, 'isn't there something that can be done about this,'" he said. "So I think this is super, I think this is terrific."

Commissioner V. Scott Zelov said enforcement of illegal bus passing is difficult to enforce properly, due to the logistics. The township has more than 100 bus stops and only so many officers able to patrol streets.

"I think this is going to make LMPD more productive," he said. "This is long overdue. I strongly support this."

Sinai commended the Lower Merion School District for proposing the program, saying it directionally improves the safety of students.

"Even if it deters one of these, it's worth doing," he said.

Board Vice President Shawn Kraemer thanked the police department and the district for their work in getting the program off the ground.

According to township documents on the program, previous laws permitting the use of stop-arm cameras did not shield state and local law enforcement agencies from certain types of civil liability as the issuing authority.

In late 2023, state legislators passed a bill that reinforced the state's school bus stop-arm camera safety program. This legislation provided greater protections for state and local law enforcement agencies responsible for reviewing violations captured by school bus stop-arm cameras.

Once this bill became law, Lower Merion Police resumed discussions with the district on implementing a program.

The Lower Merion School District said installation and testing of the cameras will take some time.

According to the district, officials to work with Lower Merion Township on an awareness campaign to remind the community about the traffic safety laws concerning stopping for school buses, once a timeline for the stop-arm camera enforcement implementation has been developed.