Adams on Passing Stopped School Buses: "Meh"

[Buzz]

Just when you thought nobody could be dumber than our previous mayor, Adams says, "Hold my beer."

In December of 2021 the City Council voted in favor of Local Law 10 which provided for a pilot program for cameras on school buses and poles near schools to catch people passing the flashing red lights and stop signs.

However, according to an article in the Advance,  "Despite being empowered to create the program and the city's clear affinity for automated enforcement, Adams has not elected to implement it during the first 16 months of his tenure.

In September 2022, City Hall did not respond to a request for comment from the Advance/SILive.com regarding the decision not to implement the program before the start of the school year, but provided the following statement to Streetsblog: 'The Adams administration will do whatever it takes to keep children safe as they travel to and from school. We are exploring this particular issue and evaluating whether this kind of program would have a significant impact.'"

In other words, "Meh."

Really kind of surprising that he would pass this up as a source of revenue ... like all the other cameras around.


Here's the Advance article ... some articles can only be accessed with a subscription ... https://www.silive.com/news/2023/04/what-is-the-penalty-for-passing-a-stopped-school-bus-in-new-york.html

Here's the law ... https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4146286&GUID=CC7C736A-D0BD-449A-95B8-777F8295178E&Options=ID|Text|&Search=Local+Law+bus

[PROUD MEMBER]

Not directly what ur talking about but since we're on the subject of School Bus Stop Signs.
Everyday at one of my afternoon schools there's 7 buses (3 Special Ed, 4 Gen Ed).
The Special Ed buses are parked behind the General Ed buses. Basically ALL the students get dismissed at the same time but the Special Ed buses are always ready to leave first bc they have less students and are fully loaded first.
Needless to say instead of them being patient and waiting two minutes for the General Ed buses to be fully loaded, the drivers (one in particular) is beeping her horn or on her radio asking (telling) the General Ed buses to put their signs in.
Most times the General Ed drivers (myself included, against my better judgement) will oblige.
Starting tomorrow that will end. She will learn to wait or she could do the intelligent thing and ask the school if the Special Ed buses can line up in front of the General Ed buses.
I will no longer risk the safety of a child and my job just to be a "nice" guy in order to save another driver two minutes!

[Buzz]

Just curious ... are the van drivers from our company?

Doesn't matter, though. No driver should tell another driver to shut their lights ... or beep at them. And no driver should comply.

If somebody ... anybody ... gets hit crossing the street and you didn't have your lights on, you and the company would share in the liability. Why put yourself in that position so they can get back to the yard 2 minutes earlier? Until you're told  to leave, your lights should be on to create a pattern of safety. If a  driver is in that much of a hurry let them put the onus on themselves and go through your lights.

At my school, 24, special ed vans don't pull up until regular ed leaves. My concern is the "walkers." A number of buses continue on Durant onto Ocean Rd. where there are no sidewalks and kids must scramble up peoples' lawns to avoid buses ... or we pass them dangerously close. I've brought this to the attention to city council people but they have not been able to resolve the issue (apparently). It's a miracle that nothing terrible has happened in all these years.

[Buzz]

p.s. - A school bus passing another bus's red lights is not a "good look."

Also, you can leave your lights on and legally wave any vehicle past you. If that vehicle hits somebody, "But the driver waved me on" is not a defense, nor will it necessarily get them out of a ticket.