Illegally passing a school bus? You're on camera in these Bucks County towns. Expect a fine

With kids heading back to school, Bucks and Montgomery County school officials are reminding drivers that there's a price to pay for ignoring the flashing red lights on a stopped school bus.

It’s $300.

Three local school districts are joining dozens across Pennsylvania to participate in a safety program that makes it easier to catch drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses.

What you need to know about stop arm lawBucks County school districts have a new way to catch drivers who illegally pass school buses

According to BusPatrol, a state-approved vendor with contracts in 57 Pennsylvania school districts, 16,676 vehicles in Montgomery County and 15,953 in Bucks County have been caught doing this.

Police in Lower Moreland (Sept. 23) and North Penn (Aug. 28) school districts in Montgomery County, and Central Bucks School District in Bucks County (Sept. 3) will start issuing violations.

Those districts join Bensalem, Pennsbury, Quakertown and Pennridge in Bucks County and Cheltenham, Upper Moreland, Souderton, Spring-Ford, Methacton, and Norristown in Montgomery County, where the safety program is already in place.

Pennsylvania lawmakers last year made changes in 2020 legislation that gave school districts and local police the ability to more easily catch vehicles that fail to stop and issue them fines. Money generated from those fines are to be divided between the school district, police and state.

Here are the most important things to know about the School Bus Stop-Arm Law:

Do I have stop for a school bus in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania drivers must stop at least 10 feet away from school buses that have an activated stop-arm and red signals. Drivers are to wait until the stop-arm's retracted and red signals are turned off before proceeding.

The lone exception is if the school bus is stopped on the opposite side of a divided highway that is also separated by a physical barrier like a grass median or concrete island.

Before the law was changed in 2020, drivers were rarely cited because it required an eyewitness to record the license plate number of the vehicle, and later identify the person driving it, according to police. Illegally passing a school bus is a summary offense that carries a fine, automatic 60-day license suspension and points against a driver’s license.

But since 2020 school districts can contract with state-approved vendors that install cloud-connected automated camera systems on school buses that collect high-resolution images of vehicles that pass school buses while stop-arms and red lights are activated.

Those violations are forwarded to local police who are authorized to review, approve and issue $300 civil violations. The tickets are mailed to vehicle owners, who do not face points against their driver’s license or other penalties. .

What has changed about the PA school bus law since it took effect

Last year the state legislature updated the law by moving the first-level ticket appeals out of local magisterial courts and into the hands of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation examiners, who can conduct a hearing through video conferencing, PennDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Kuntch said. District courts are now only responsible for hearing appeals.

The districts are also required to submit enforcement data to PennDOT and the Pennsylvania State Police by July 1 for an annual report showing the amount of fine imposed and money collected, number of violations issued, number of contested violations and those outcomes, and detail how the additional revenue was used, Kuntch said.

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School bus safety enforcement in Bucks County

Data shows that violations have dropped in Bucks County school districts entering their third year with the program.

Quakertown saw a 22% drop in violations (1,317 to 1,028) in its second year, Pennsbury had a 17.5% decline (1,870-1,542) and Bensalem dropped 15% (5,289 to 4,447), according to BusPatrol data. The numbers reflect violations local police approved.

“The 15% drop in violations indicates that some drivers are more aware of the flashing red lights on buses,” Bensalem Sgt. Glenn Vandegrift said. “The police department would like the number of violations to be zero. Still, the downward trend shows that the program positively affects driver behavior.”

Bensalem approves an average of 73% of violations that BusPatrol sends them, but the most common reason a violation is rejected is the vehicle did not have enough time to stop after the red stop lights were activated, Vandegrift said.

“We are very conservative with this reasoning, as many vehicles have ample time to slow down during the yellow flashing lights,” he added. “This would allow them to stop in time, but we always provide the benefit of the doubt to the vehicle driver.”

Not enough time for a driver to stop is also the common reason violations are rejected in Falls Township, said Falls Lt. Martial Belinsky. Another common reason is a bus driver deploying the red lights and stop-arm — which triggers the camera system — before the bus is fully stopped, Belinsky said.

In Lower Makefield Township, Capt. Jason Braim said his department typically rejects violations triggered by road conditions that are out of a driver’s control.

Along Edward Road, which runs east and west, sun glare at certain times of the day makes it hard for drivers to see opposing traffic, Braim said.

Other common reasons for a violation to be rejected is if the bus driver doesn't activate the amber lights early enough so drivers can slow down, or if the bus driver deploys red lights and stop arms while the bus is moving, Braim said.

“That can be a hassle when reviewing,” he added. “You have to hope that the bus driver is doing the proper part to give people adequate warning.”

Do I have to stop on a four-lane road for a school bus in PA?

Members of the three police departments agreed that four-lane roads are where the majority of their violations occur, which they attribute to drivers not understanding that the law requires them to stop unless there is a physical barrier separating the lanes.

During the first six months of 2024, 119 of the 390 violations approved for passing a stopped school bus in Lower Makefield were along Oxford Valley Road, where it is multi-lane, Braim said. Similarly in Falls, the majority of approved violations occur on parts of Lincoln Highway and West Trenton Road,.

The problem is so pervasive on Lincoln Highway that Falls police have asked Pennsbury to limit the number of bus stops, Belinsky said, adding it's not unusual to see 10 cars pass a stopped school bus in the opposite set of lanes.

Even when cars in both lanes stop, he said, there are drivers behind them who pass on the shoulder. Other times people will stop for the school bus, but if they don’t see kids crossing, they’ll proceed while the lights and arms are deployed.

“I guess they assume it's safe,” Belinsky added.

Have participating Bucks County schools and police seen a financial benefit?

Yes and no.

Participating school districts receive $250 for each violation; the remaining $50 is divided equally between participating police departments and the Pennsylvania School bus Safety Grant program.

Among the 10 Bucks County participating police departments last school year, Bensalem collected the most from its share of the ticket revenue: $244,150 its first two years in the program.

The Quakertown and Richland police departments collected $58,625, and Falls, Lower Makefield and Yardley police collected $85,300 in their first two years, data shows.

The Hilltown, Bedminster, Dublin and Perkasie police departments, which cover first-year participant Pennridge, shared $9,250 collected last school year.

No breakdown was available for the amount in revenue the individual police department received within Quakertown, Pennsbury and Pennridge school districts.

Among participating school districts, only Bensalem has seen a surplus. The school collected more than $350,000 in its first two years after paying BusPatrol, which supplies, installs and maintains the camera equipment on buses.

Under its contract with districts, the company gets 60% of the $250 for each violation plus a monthly technology fee that is based on the size of the bus fleet, which comes out of the district’s portion of the ticket revenue.

But if a district doesn’t take in enough ticket revenue to cover the technology fee, the balance rolls over. At the end of the contract any outstanding fees are voided, meaning it ultimately costs the district nothing.

The Central Bucks School District, which approved BusPatrol last year, found another benefit to participating in the program: It saves taxpayers money.

District Chief Operating Officer Tara Houser estimated that BusPatrol saved at least $300,000 because the district didn't need to replace its previous bus camera system, which was nearing the end of its life.

Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com