New Law OKs Mailing of School Bus Camera Tickets

PHOTO of Bus #4, Falls Church City Public Schools; photo courtesy of FCCPS

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Lawmakers have given the green light to a provision that will help local governments enforce laws designed to keep drivers from illegally passing school buses.

The new law goes into effect July 1 and gives local governments a way to enforce the law and hopefully stop drivers from passing school buses and endangering students getting on and off buses.

Similar to receiving a speeding ticket by mail that shows a photo of your car clocked going too fast, the new law now allows citations to be mailed to anyone who illegally passes a school bus. The image would be captured by special stop-arm cameras attached to the school buses.

Several local jurisdictions in Virginia, including Falls Church and Arlington County, had started the program but stopped when it was discovered that a provision for mailing citations wasn't included in the original legislation passed several years ago.

"We could not hold the violators accountable because it was too costly and too complicated to physically serve a summons," said 31st District Sen. Barbara Favola.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed the new law last week. The new law fixes the previous “Video-Monitoring on School Buses” bill signed into law in 2011.

In Virginia, a violation will get the driver a $250 fine (with the new law, the owner of the vehicle will have a chance to rebut who was driving the vehicle at the time).

What should you do when you see a bus stop?

You should slow down when approaching a school bus that is flashing its yellow warning lights (a telltale sign the bus is preparing to load or unload passengers). You should stop at least 20 feet away from a school bus with its stop-arm extended and wait for the stop- arm to retract and the red lights to stop flashing before moving your vehicle.

Falls Church City launched its bus camera program in October of 2013, when high-resolution cameras were installed on the exterior of six FCCPS school buses, after a study showed drivers breaking the law. When a school bus stopped and extended the stop arm, the camera automatically detected when a vehicle was passing. The violation data and images were wirelessly uploaded and later reviewed by local law enforcement for approval or rejection. If approved, a citation was issued and mailed to the vehicle owner. The City put the brakes on the program after the glitch in the law was discovered.

At the time, Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS) and the Falls Church Police Department partnered with American Traffic Solutions (ATS), a photo enforcement provider, by deploying CrossingGuard®, designed to snap a photo and video of drivers who don't obey the law.

“The school bus camera program was effective,” said Falls Church City Police Chief Mary Gavin said at the time. “We hope the legislature will come around to bring this program back.”

The new law now paves the way for local jurisdictions to enforce the law, by mailing citations to anyone who violates the law.

NBC-4 did an investigative study of the problem last year that showed a 10 percent increase in drivers charged with illegally bypassing school buses each year between 2011 and 2013 in Virginia.

See in-depth information from the Department of Motor Vehicles here on Virginia laws on passing school buses.