Drivers in several school districts in Onondaga County will face a big fine if they illegally pass a stopped school bus. Five hundred school buses in six districts will be equipped with advanced technology that identifies vehicles that illegally pass a bus with its stop arm down.
East Syracuse-Minoa is one of the districts joining the initial phase of the county program. Superintendent Donna DeSiato says a company called Verra Mobility is attaching new cameras on the sides of their entire fleet.
“It's a camera that's located on the side of the bus,” said DeSiato. “We have a camera that is actually on every bus, but the camera that they're installing actually gets the driver from both directions and that's the footage will go directly to Verra Mobility and to the county for its review.”
The county will then send a ticket to the offending driver, who will be required to pay a $250 dollar fine.
“$250 isn't a small penalty, right?” said Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon. “I think if you do it once and twice, and again, these are situations where if you think you can get these tickets and not pay, we’re coming after you for collections and legal responsibilities. So, I think the fine is enough to change behavior in our opinion. And that’s the goal here.”
The county will continue to add districts to the program, with a goal of having all buses equipped with this technology by the end of next year. Onondaga County is able to levy these fines thanks to some state legislation championed by State Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli (D-Syracuse).
“A lot of people who get these tickets, it never happens again,” Magnarelli said. “Thank God nothing happened. You only got a ticket. You learned a lesson and now it's going to be in your mind forever. That's great. That's all we're trying to do.”
The money raised from the fines goes to the county to cover the cost of the program. Any additional revenues from the program would go to support school programs, such as early childhood programs or student mental health initiatives.
