BILL NUMBER: S9395
SPONSOR: BYNOE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to owner
liability for failure of an operator to stop for a school bus
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to ensure fairness and transparency in the
administration of automated traffic enforcement programs, including bus
stop-arm camera systems. This amendment clarifies that enforcement may
begin only after public notification and certification of system acti-
vation and expressly prohibits retroactive issuance of violations or
penalties for conduct occurring prior to that date. These changes aim to
ensure public accountability and prevent opaque or unauthorized ticket-
ing.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill would amend section 1, subdivision 1 of § 1174-a
of the VTL by adding language which reads as follows: "Mobile school
bus photo violation monitoring systems installed pursuant to this
section shall only be operated within the boundaries of a participating
school district. The county, city, town or village shall maintain and
transmit a list of participating school districts and their bounded
locations to any third-party vendor which operates a photo violation
monitoring system. A vendor shall disable the operation of mobile bus
photo violation monitoring systems outside such geographic boundaries.
Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to limit the authority of a
law enforcement officer to enforce the provisions of section eleven
hundred seventy-four of this article."
Section 2 of this bill shall amend section 1, subdivision 1-a of §
1174-a of the VTL, by adding language which reads as follows: "The use
of a school bus photo violation monitoring system within a school
district shall require the passage of a resolution authorizing such
use.A copy of such resolution shall be provided to each county, city,
town and village within such districts. No photo monitoring system
shall be operated prior to such resolution of the school district."
Section 3 of this bill shall amend section 2, subdivision (g) of § 1174
of the VTL by adding a new paragraph 5, which is to read as follows:
"5. No notice of liability shall be mailed pursuant to this section to
any owner for a violation which occurred within a school district which
has not passed a resolution authorizing the use of school bus photo
violation monitoring systems within such district, or for violations
which occurred prior to the passage of such resolution approving such
use and entering into an agreement with the county, city, town or
village."
Section 4 of this bill shall amend section 3, subdivision (m) of § 1174
of the VTL by following the word "operable." with new language which
reads as follows: "Such report shall be publicly available on the coun-
ty, city, town and village websites."
Section 5 of this bill shall amend section 3, subdivision 11, paragraph
(n) of § 1174 of the VTL by following "such school bus stop-arms were
malfunctioning at the time of alleged violation" with a second provision
which reads as:
"; or (2) the violations occurred within the boundaries or a school
district which had not adopted a resolution authorizing the use of a
school bus photo violation monitoring system, or during any period of
time prior to the adoption of such resolution."
Section 6 of this bill establishes the effective date. That being that
this act shall take effect immediately.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
On May 28, 2021, the Nassau County Legislature passed a bill approving
school-bus stop-arm cameras for the county starting September. The
legislation allowed the County to enter a contract (with private vendor
Verra Mobility) to operate the system but only for districts that opt
in. There are two main issues which this bill aims to address:
- The first issue being that Long Island town reportedly issued 80K
tickets for passing school buses - in districts that never opted in to
the automatic traffic enforcement program, "NYDefensiveDrivingNow".
- The second issue being Hempstead Town officials said the tickets like-
ly came from buses from participating districts that make stops in
districts that aren't involved.
There have been media reports of motorists receiving Notices of Liabil-
ity under the Vehicle & Traffic Laws, Section 1174-a, for illegally
passing stopped school buses in connection with New York State's auto-
mated stop arm enforcement program in the physical boundaries of school
districts that did not enter into an agreement with the municipality
implementing the program, including in certain school districts located
in the Town of Hempstead.
While some school districts have opted into the program with the Town -
and have permitted such cameras to be installed on their buses - it is
also the case that in some instances those school buses service other
school bus routes in districts that did not enter into such agreements.
This bill amends the law to limit the operation of mobile school bus
photo violation monitoring systems only within the boundaries of a
school district that passes a resolution authorizing such operation.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Legislation
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S9395: 1174-a vehicle and traffic law