Falls police issue staggering number of tickets for passing stopped school buses

Rick Pfeiffer -, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·3 min read

Oct. 28—When Falls schools officials decided in 2020 to launch a pilot program designed to keep motorists from passing stopped school buses, they had no idea how serious their transportation safety issue really was.

"I never would have anticipated how severe the problem was," Falls Schools Superintendent Mark Laurrie said.

Now more than 3 years after BusPatrol America began installing and operating its high-tech, artificial-intelligence-assisted stop-arm safety systems on Falls school buses, an average of almost 150 drivers a month — roughly 7.5 per school day — are still illegally passing stopped school buses as they pick up and drop off students.

The trend is no better nationally. BusPatrol, which tracks these types of violations, says, "School buses are passed illegally over 17 million times a year in North America."

"I wasn't really surprised (by the 1,413 violations recorded in the Falls from Jan. 1 to Oct. 18). We've struggled with this for years," said Bryan DalPorto, the Falls School District's director of Safety and Security."

A former Niagara Falls police superintendent, DalPorto said he struggles to understand how motorists can simply drive by a stopped school bus with large warning signs, flashing lights and an extended safety bar. He suggested it's part of a larger problem, with increasing numbers of drivers simply disregarding vehicle and traffic laws.

"How can they not be aware you have to stop at a stop sign? How can they not be aware you have to stop at a red light?" DalPorto asked. "It's a lack of regard because (drivers) feel there are no consequences. Well now we're adding consequences."

These days, when a Falls school bus comes to a stop and the safety arm deploys, an AI-assisted camera on the arm captures video of the surrounding traffic. That video is sent to BusPatrol America which then reviews it for traffic violations, such as motorists passing the stopped bus.

Those violations are then reported to the Falls Police Traffic Division and an officer issues a ticket to the registered owner of the vehicle. The penalties are stiff — ranging from a minimum of $250 for a first violation to a maximum of $1,000 for three violations in three years — while jail time ranges from up to 30 days for a first violation and up to 180 days for a second and third violation in three years.

BusPatrol also provides the school district and police with advanced analytics that help them target additional enforcement resources to provide better student safety.

"We get these reports and they show us that the greatest (number of passed bus violations) occur on Monday mornings," Laurrie said. "I think that's a time when (motorists) are in a hurry and they're not paying attention."

Laurrie said, generally, there are more passed bus violations during the morning hours than the afternoon.

"It's really unsafe," the schools superintendent said. "We're blessed we haven't had a serious accident."

DalPorto said the school district has to constantly educate drivers on the rules of the road for dealing with school buses.

"I think it's a combination of education and enforcement that we need," DalPorto said. "For example, on Hyde Park Boulevard, if you see a school bus stopped, that means all four lanes of traffic are supposed to stop. It doesn't matter what side (of the street) the bus is on. Pay attention to the lights (on the bus). If you see those lights on, you have to stop."

The New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) estimates that 50,000 motorists illegally pass stopped school buses statewide each school day.

"Parents should not have to fear for their children's safety because of a driver's reckless behavior. Whenever you encounter a school bus from the front or from the rear and its lights are flashing red, you must stop," said Mark J.F. Schroeder, New York's commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles.