For months, Channel 11 has been telling you about the questions surrounding a school bus ticketing program.
From fighting tickets to following the money from each fine, 11 Investigates has been pushing officials for answers. Now, we’re learning about a major shift in how the court system handles these cases.
>> 11 Investigates viewer complaints about school bus cameras wrongly ticketing people
A PennDOT hearing officer, not a local magistrate, will now determine guilt or innocence for folks who want to fight an automated school bus camera ticket, if they received their citation after Dec. 22. Their hearing can be in-person or on video as long as it’s requested within 30 days of receiving the ticket. This takes the strain off of local magistrates, some of whom say they’re inundated with bus hearings. Mike McNamara, the Chief Operations Officer for Pittsburgh Public Schools says it also takes the burden off of school police who had to appear for every court case.
“I thought from the very beginning, running it through the magistrate was going to be a burden on people,” McNamara tells 11 Investigates. “I’m glad people woke up and we’re going to have a PennDOT hearing officer.”
>> District justice raises concerns about school bus camera citations, lawmaker calls for review
School police will still play a role.
“We will have to review the tickets, but we won’t have to go to the court proceedings,” PPS Officer, Toi Kenney added.
If a decision is appealed within 45 days, the case then goes to a local magistrate and school police will have to appear.
For each $300 ticket, PennDOT says:
-
$250 goes to the school district where the violation occurred
-
$25 goes to the school police who review the camera footage
-
$25 goes to PennDOT for a ‘School Bus Safety Grant Program’
>> $858,559 in revenue collected in first 6 months of automated school bus camera tickets
So, do these cameras really keep kids safe?
PennDOT provided the statistics involving school bus crashes, fatalities and injuries from the past five years, with the most recent data available (2023 is not yet available).
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Crashes |
16 |
15 |
10 |
13 |
12 |
|
Fatalities |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Injuries |
16 |
15 |
12 |
12 |
11 |
There were no fatalities of children in 2018, 2019 or 2020. PennDOT says in 2021, one fatality was an adult pedestrian and in 2022, one child died.
>>> 11 Investigates digs into people wrongfully ticketed by automated cameras on school buses
In the last three years that data is available (2020, 2021, 2022), the number of crashes went up slightly and the number of injuries to kids remained about the same. PennDOT says one injury or death to a child is one too many.
Under the new state law, there cannot be a minimum or maximum number of violations issued and the school district must make the appeals process, contact information and defense arguments public.
If you are ultimately found guilty, your payment is due within 90 days, or a collections agency could intervene.
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