HARRISBURG – Motorists in PA are being reminded of a recent state law that allows school districts to equip school buses with stop-arm cameras to detect the license plates of drivers who fail to stop for school buses. While the vast majority of drivers obey school bus laws, hundreds of motorists fail to stop for school buses and put the lives of children at risk. In the past, the School Bus Passing Law has been hard to enforce, as school bus drivers have had to quickly collect pertinent detailed information about the incident, while performing their duties, or police had to catch a motorist committing a violation. A $300 civil penalty is assessed to motorists violating the state’s School Bus Stop Arm Camera law caught by a stop arm camera. Local police will review evidence from the stop arm cameras and certify that a violation has taken place before a notice of violation is sent to the motorist. PA currently has 26 school districts and over 1,200 buses utilizing Bus Patrol stop arm camera technology.
