Thousands Fined For Passing School Buses In Buffalo, New York

After nearly two months since a new school safety program began in New York State's second-largest city, thousands of Western New Yorkers have been fined. While many people were suspected of not following the law, many were shocked to see exactly how many people drove past stopped school buses when their stop signs and lights were illuminated.

In 2023, the City of Buffalo announced that it intended to install stop-arm cameras on every school bus in the city. New York has a recurring problem with people illegally driving around stopped school buses, which puts kids in danger when they are just trying to get home from class.

During the first couple weeks after the cameras were activated, more than 2,000 tickets were issued.

Now, after nearly two months, more than 16,000 vehicles have stopped school buses with their signs and lights activated since October 1st.

According to WKBW-TV, there are incidents of people driving past school buses daily in Buffalo. This, of course, could be a major problem for school kids in Buffalo, as every time this happens, the potential for a dangerous accident is just waiting to happen.

If you get caught by one of these cameras driving past a stopped school bus with its lights and arm out, it will cost you between $250 and $300 for each occurrence. The tickets will be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle that drove by.

The City of Buffalo has a process where you can contest a ticket if you receive one, which is done through the city's Traffic Violation Agency in City Hall.

When this program was conceived, City officials hoped it would change people's behavior when driving around school buses. After two months, people are not getting down with the program.