Enact legislation to allow Stop Arm Cameras on school buses in New York to identify and penalize drivers who pass stopped school buses.
The Issue
Every day in New York State, over 2.3 million children ride yellow school buses to school and back home at the end of the day. Our schools and school bus operators do all we can to ensure their safety through rigorous equipment maintenance and safety inspections, driver training and testing, careful routing and other safety measures.
One of our critical safety measures is to equip our school buses with red flashing lights and stop arms that indicate to motorists that the school bus has stopped to pick up children or to drop them off. Those red lights tell motorists that a child will be getting onto the bus or stepping down from it and in some cases crossing the road to do so. Those red lights tell motorists to STOP FOR THE SCHOOL BUS AND FOR THE CHILDREN.
Despite these safety precautions and those red lights, thousands (we estimate as many as 50,000) of times on each of those days, motorists pass our school buses when they are stopped to pick up or drop off our students. Every one of these motorists are endangering our children and they are breaking the law.
The New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) is advocating for legislation in New York State that will allow us to follow the steps that other states have taken to install cameras on the outside of our school buses to identify and issue tickets to motorists who illegally pass our stopped school buses. Such legislation will increase our ability to enforce Section 1174 of our Vehicle and Traffic Law which requires motorists to come to a full stop when approaching a stopped school bus that has its red lights flashing.
We are trying to show strong public support for such legislation and this petition is one of the ways we are seeking to demonstrate that support. The more people who are willing to say "We need Stop Arm Cameras on school buses in New York" -- the more likely it is we will be successful in our advocacy efforts.
Please take the time to complete the petition and join our effort to keep our children safe. It really is all about our children's safety!
LETTER TO
New York State Legislature
Enact legislation to allow Stop Arm Cameras on school buses in New York to identify and penalize drivers who pass stopped school buses.
Petition Closed
The Issue
Every day in New York State, over 2.3 million children ride yellow school buses to school and back home at the end of the day. Our schools and school bus operators do all we can to ensure their safety through rigorous equipment maintenance and safety inspections, driver training and testing, careful routing and other safety measures.
One of our critical safety measures is to equip our school buses with red flashing lights and stop arms that indicate to motorists that the school bus has stopped to pick up children or to drop them off. Those red lights tell motorists that a child will be getting onto the bus or stepping down from it and in some cases crossing the road to do so. Those red lights tell motorists to STOP FOR THE SCHOOL BUS AND FOR THE CHILDREN.
Despite these safety precautions and those red lights, thousands (we estimate as many as 50,000) of times on each of those days, motorists pass our school buses when they are stopped to pick up or drop off our students. Every one of these motorists are endangering our children and they are breaking the law.
The New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) is advocating for legislation in New York State that will allow us to follow the steps that other states have taken to install cameras on the outside of our school buses to identify and issue tickets to motorists who illegally pass our stopped school buses. Such legislation will increase our ability to enforce Section 1174 of our Vehicle and Traffic Law which requires motorists to come to a full stop when approaching a stopped school bus that has its red lights flashing.
We are trying to show strong public support for such legislation and this petition is one of the ways we are seeking to demonstrate that support. The more people who are willing to say "We need Stop Arm Cameras on school buses in New York" -- the more likely it is we will be successful in our advocacy efforts.
Please take the time to complete the petition and join our effort to keep our children safe. It really is all about our children's safety!
LETTER TO
New York State Legislature
Enact legislation to allow Stop Arm Cameras on school buses in New York to identify and penalize drivers who pass stopped school buses.
The Decision Makers
Petition Updates
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Petition created on March 3, 2015