Enforcement Begins In County School Bus Safety Initiative

County Executive Ed Day is pleased to announce that the Pearl River School District has officially begun enforcement and ticketing drivers passing school bus stop signs under the Rockland County School Bus Safety program.

Pearl River School District buses are fully equipped with cameras on stop-arms. During the 30-day warning period during May, the cameras on buses captured 56 potential violations, out of which the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department identified 37 violations. Warning letters were sent to the citizens involved. Now that the warning period has concluded, any citizen found in violation from June 1, 2023, onwards in the Town of Orangetown will be issued a monetary violation from any of the Pearl River or Suffern School Buses.

“As a father and former member of law enforcement who has personally seen the results of children being seriously injured or killed, it has always boggled my mind that some drivers actually believe those few seconds of their time waiting for a school bus is more important than a child’s life,” said County Executive Ed Day. “Drivers heed our warning; come fall, this significant child safety initiative will be in effect across most of Rockland and cracking down on drivers putting children’s lives at risk.”

North Rockland School District, Clarkstown Central School District, and Nanuet Union Free School District are opted in with a 30-day warning period anticipated to run in August followed by live ticketing commencing on September 5th.

East Ramapo Central School District, Suffern Central School District, and South Orangetown Central School District are expected to be fully opted in this month with a 30-day warning period anticipated to run during August followed by live ticketing commencing September 5th.

Every day in New York State, an estimated 50,000 drivers illegally pass stopped school buses, putting the lives and safety of children at risk. To make roads safer for our children, the County of Rockland has partnered with company BusPatrol to launch a violator-funded business model allowing districts to equip school buses with cameras on the bus stop-arms at no-cost.

Drivers caught by those cameras illegally passing activated stop-arms on school buses will then be issued the following penalties by mail:

1st Violation $250

2nd Violation $275

3rd Violation $300

(within 18-month period)