RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Most people would agree that a driver should get a ticket for passing a school bus with its stop arm out. But what if there are no children on board the bus?
Hundreds of people in Suffolk County say they’ve received tickets after driving by school buses when there were no kids aboard or when the stop arms came out for no reason.
A spokesperson for Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone said the program is about the safety of children, but some of those ticketed say they believe it’s a money grab to get $250 fines.
Their complaints haven’t gone unnoticed. Two county lawmakers are now focusing on the program, which uses cameras on the stop arms to capture drivers violating road rules.
County Comptroller John Kennedy plans to audit the program, and county Legislator Robert Trotta wants the program eliminated altogether.
“This is one that warrants activity from my office, scrutiny and review,” Kennedy said.
Trotta said he’s “all for giving a ticket for someone who passes a school bus when there’s a dangerous situation.”
“But that’s not what’s happening here—it might be one in a million,” he said.
Trotta has heard accounts of people getting tickets in absurd situations, including when buses are in parking lots.
“At a school parking lot, the bus was coming back dropping off an aide, and when the door was opening, there were teachers leaving the school and they were getting tickets,” he said.
“I had one where the bus driver walked into a bagel store to get something,” Trotta added. “When she opened the door to get out, [the stop arm] came out and they were giving tickets to people driving past.”
Some drivers have fought their tickets and won, including Rita, who said after she got her ticket, she knew there was “no way I would pass a school bus.”
“It feels like a game of ‘gotcha,’” Saralee Rosenberg said of the ticketing.
“Of course, I’m all in favor of school bus safety, but this feels like something very predatory and just not fair,” Rosenberg said.
Amy Shapiro also fought her ticket and won after a judge sided with her.
Shapiro said she was driving down a busy roadway when a bus sitting in the left lane “opened and closed its doors or turned the lights on and off when there was no reason to.”
“I was upset that I was accused of something,” she said.
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