Agreed $1000 fine is reasonable I disagree with person giving a news interview trying to say a $1000 fine could prevent a person from putting food on their table, paying their rent, and etc same can be said for the family that would've to bury there children cause a driver couldn't be patience for the children to get off the bus safetly a $1000 fine is a lot cheaper than a funeral.
The problem with high fines is that now police -- often very sympathetic to working people -- are simply not going to stop someone for this. Or, if they do stop, they will give a warning. Or they will give some other ticket. Basically, this is likely to see a decrease in these tickets, but not a decrease in passing school busses.
@@tal_the_great The other problem is that $1000 will not deter everyone equally: the average working person, yes; some rich frat kid or stock broker, no; a single working mother, it could literally get her family evicted and now the community has a whole other set of social problems to deal with. If you want to deter everyone equally, fairly and effectively, make the fine 40 hours of community service.
True that the $1000 fine might prevent you from paying bills, and that's one more reason to pay attention when you're driving ... another is so that you don't freaking kill someone!!
I was about to say that. Like really if you want to be able to pay your bills then watch your driving. But how much you wanna bet that there will be a few people who either ignore it and continue to do wrong, or they test to see if it will happen? Then you have the ones who don't really pay attention to what laws are made and might not know about it until it happens to them.
...how about teaching those incompetent tramps how to cross a road without getting hit by a car? when i was a kid, i was told to look where the eff i'm going and that if i get hit by a car, its my own fault for not opening my eyes and look before crossing.
@@AegisPupus as soon as the yellow lights start flashing that is the signal that students are about to get off of the bus. But until the sign is extended and the red lights are flashing it is perfectly legal to drive pass the bus.
yet another one who encourages and supports incompetence! how about you teach kids how to cross a road without getting ran over? its their own fault if they run on the road without looking! you can't hold drivers responsible if some dumb kid bounces on the road wihtout looking.
Well sure, but then why not a million dollar fine? Don't get me wrong, I do agree to just NOT do it, but that's the argument I also use to support capital punishment for many crimes, and it seems people don't wanna hear the "just don't do it" line on that topic.
@@technomage6736this isn’t a capital punishment nor getting fined for littering, you’re putting kids lives at risk. Just stop and if you don’t stop suffer the consequences. Boohoo
The whole idea of a fine is that it's SUPPOSED to hurt you financially, so you don't go out there and do it again. I do think first offense should be less than $1,000 but if someone is a repeat offender then they should get a big fine. Former school bus driver, once we installed cameras on the side of the bus that could capture tag numbers, the number of violators went way down.
I retired from being a school bus driver last October (9+ years). The minimum fine could be a MILLION dollars, and it won't change anything unless an effort is made to enforce it. In my school system (JCPS- Louisville, KY) the bus video is not enough. It has to be WITNESSED by a police officer, and they have to act on it RIGHT THEN. If a DRIVER wants to act on it (WITHOUT an officer witnessing it), they need to take off work (costing them a $400 attendance bonus!), go downtown to police HQ, swear out a warrant for the offender, then miss work AGAIN (ANOTHER $400 bonus GONE) to go to court. In my 9+ years, I never heard of a single case of a driver doing that. Surprise, surprise.
If you're missing work in order to protect the kids on your route, that should be considered as still performing your job duties (albeit a voluntary one), thus you get paid for your time at the police station and courthouse. Otherwise getting a finder's fee from the police for your information leading to an conviction, but the fee imposed on the ignorant driver would have to be substantial to make it worth it to everyone involved.
@@benwagner5089 "Should" is the operative word in your statement. A number of us drivers would point that out to management during the start-of-year meetings each year, it was made VERY clear to us it wasn't in the cards. Period.
Can an adult volunteer ride with you for the purpose of going through that entire process in your place, or does the statute specify that the bus driver has to do all that? The volunteer could sit on the side of passing traffic and observe, or drive behind you in their own vehicle with their own dash-cam, and provide the same testimony. I would do that, but I don't live in KY (yet).
A fine is SUPPOSED to be painful, it’s a PUNISHMENT. Going to jail instead is also likely to prevent you from making your rent payment. If you want fines to be more equatable fine people in hours. Make them pay a fine equal to what they make per hour times the number of hours they are fined.
LMAO at the Waitress who makes $2.13 per hour, and its her 1st offense. .... Her Fine, would be $2.13 !!!!!! No that is not painful. that is just 1 hours pay. $1,000 to a waitress or Server.. THAT is Punishment. I only make $18 / hour, by your stipulation of a more equatable fine... I'll drive past 5-6 buses before i even get to $1,000. "oh, the fine is $18 first time? OKAY.... !! can I stop by the station and get change for a $20???" LMAO
@dirtybird437 I think they mean in terms of hours of punishment. Take tge 18/hr example. If a week in jail for hours of punishment is the crime, and you make 18/hr taxable, it comes out as $720. If you don't have that cash, spend that week in jail. Either way, heavy punishment. Adding in the whole waitress bit, might be advisable as a minimum fine, or whichever is greater. If a waitress works @ 2.50/hr + an average of 10/hr in tips (which is taxable), you'd take their average week payscale or hours work and do it that way. Problem is how to enforce it or make sure no one is cooking the books on their income. They might go to the employer directly. Personally? Take away their license and registration. Make them take a class and pass it. Do it three times? You're barred from driving. Period. But that would be hard to enforce too.
@@redkellbell6169 even Revoking someones license wont stop people from driving. But that $1,000 1st time, $1,500 2nd time, $2,000 + impound for 60 days 3rd time, and JAIL for a month 4th time... will DEFINITELY get people to realize they are not allowed to pass a stopped bus. $1,000 to a waitress who makes $2.13+Tips. thats Rent Money AND groceries they can not get. Its either they work more hours, or think about a Possible Vehicular Manslaughter charge, as well as Civil Wrongful Death conviction, which could be upwards of Tens to Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
@@dirtybird437 the fine would never be for a single hour. It would be something like 40 hours, 80 Hours, etc… as in one week’s pay, 2 weeks pay etc. places that do that kind of fine base it on your annual income tax divided into 40 hour work weeks to figure out your hourly pay. A waitress is going to be fined on their tips and hourly wage. Thats why you hear of $100,000 speeding tickets from Europe. If someone who makes millions a year gets an 80 hour speeding ticket, you can see $100,000 fines. The idea is the fine should be proportional to hours worked as the fine is an alternative to jail time.
Maybe cops should do their jobs. A cop being present is a hell of a deterrent. They would rather hold a womans face down in a fire ant hill than to be honorable.
lets get this right they say the fine is to excessive because it may cause you to not be able to pay your bills. but the penalty to the family of the child hit by you passing the bus is not being able to hug your child ever again and the thousands of dollars in funeral costs.
Right. At that point, I don’t care about you or your fucking bills. I can’t even believe that that was used as a reason to justify that it was too high of a fine.
Complaining the fine could stop someone from paying rent, but ignoring that someone worthy of the fine could stop some kid from having a life. That says a lot.
Well, it depends on how many people are fined, vs how many kids (might have been) injured or killed. NTSB stats say in a 10 year period, 97 schoolchildren nationwide were killed as pedestrians in school transportation accidents. Probably not all of those were school bus stop sign accidents, but for sake of argument pretend that they are. Since Georgia is about 1.1% of the US population, that works out to an average 1 child killed every 9.4 years. If you're talking saving one child every 9-10 years, vs making thousands of people starve or homeless every year, then the fine is probably excessive. OTOH if it's only a few people put into that state from the fine each year, then it's probably worth it. Life is risky, and everyone is fated to eventually die. You can't just assign infinite value to a life and make tradeoff decisions based solely on that. You need to make a fair assessment of the costs to life on both sides.
I do think that it is part of that legislator's job to consider whether the fine is too high. I think that texting or other distracted driving offenses could kill someone. Should they also be $1000 minimum? In the end I do think that a really high fine for this is OK.
It’s really not hard to stop for a school bus. The fact that a law like this has to be in place is sad, but I support it. It’s a reflection of how bad things have gotten. No one cares anymore.
And they can’t even wait like 2 minutes for the kids to get off the bus. And there has been a law about stopped school buses for as long as school buses have been around
May I also suggest that the city, county, or state government receive nothing and 100% of the money collected by these fines go to the school district in which the offense occurs?
suspension should also come with confiscation of the vehicle for the duration, total vehicle forfeit (without cancelling any unpaid loan debt on the vehicle) on 3rd offense
Too bad part of a sentence couldn't be that they would spend weeks walking the same crosswalks in front of the school, anticipating bad drivers just like them.
yeah a murder conviction could prevent someone from paying rent and putting food on the table too. so lets just throw away all laws and fines and penalties.
@@shermanmathieu6981 a cop pulled me over for speeding today. I told him he cant give a me a ticket cause of the financial hardships and it will prevent me from feeding my family and paying rent. That excuse didnt go over too well with him. lol i didnt actually get pulled over but just imagine saying that to a cop who stopped you.
Parents are too entitled these days. There is no legitimate reason for public schools or school buses to still exist. Education can be done online, from the child's home.
What kind of craziness are you spouting? I'm guessing you're assuming someone can stay home with the children? What about a single parent household? Maybe you should have been better educated.
@@MenaPolicedepartment you will have departments use it as a revenue tool, like asset forfeiture. If the offense is so egregious then the driver should be arrested.
@@MenaPolicedepartment do you not agree innocent people have been wronged by asset forfeiture laws despite courts? Maybe enforcement of existing traffic laws should increased?
@@user-zu5do6ri6rWell... except for socialization skills from people outside the 🏡. That's the one thing that regular and private schools 'teach' , which is good for a kiddo to compete and win in adulthood.
@@user-zu5do6ri6rthe problem with homeschooling is that it's hard to teach kids to be smarter than their teachers, and parents who homeschool tend to be the kind of people who are stupid enough to think they're smarter than all the experts on every subject.
That argument no longer stands up to scrutiny, considering the availability of educational materials these days. Public school teachers aren't known for being the smartest our society has to offer.
“A lot of people will be unhappy with this law.” Then don’t break the law! If you can’t afford the fine, then don’t break the law. I used to get stuck behind a “short bus” loading a disabled kid occasionally when heading to work. While people behind me would honk at the bus and even pass it, I just put the car in park and waited. People need to learn to chill behind the wheel.
The cameras that automatically turn on when the red flashers start get really clear pictures of drivers going around a stopped school bus. In many cases, a slam dunk for the fine.
To add onto Patsyk, those cameras have a full 180 view. A couple of states already have these cameras on their busses; PA pulled in 860k of school bus ticket revenue between July 2023 and December 2023, which is insane considering how schools have summer break from late June to early September.
Won't stop rich people. I've seen rich say...."it's not against the law. It just costs you $1000 to do it." Laws that have fines only apply to the poor.
Wait... so how did a bill about public debt become a school bus bill? Whether $1000 is too much, not enough, or just right, I want to know how (and why) a bill gets converted like that.
@@pocketlint82: Yes, which is an example of why our legal system ends up being such a MESS, re the mass of rules and regulations, complexity, lack of consistency, etc.
If you're too poor to pay the fine, maybe you should, i dunno, not pass a bus with its lights flashing and bar out. I know, it's a mind blowing concept.
As a school bus driver I applaud this high fine. Too many people when behind the wheel are not paying attention by being on their phones or doing other stuff, driving is a privilege and not a right. The death of a child because someone is in too big of a hurry or isn’t paying attention while driving should never happen.
@@user-zu5do6ri6r driving is a privilege you earn by obtaining a drivers license and having insurance on your vehicle so if you cause an accident the other parties are not financially burdened, you also buy license plates to help pay for the roads you “travel” on. Otherwise you can travel with the feet God gave you. Sounds like you must be one of those Sovereign Citizens that law abiding citizens get a good laugh at all the time from the videos y’all upload of yourselves being so stupid on traffic stops.
The amount of times I’ve almost gotten hit while getting off the bus to walk to the other sidewalk to walk home because someone in the neighborhood isn’t paying attention…WAY too many times, my state has a similar law the fine here is like I think 500 or 600, I’ll have to check again.
@@user-zu5do6ri6r Don't be ignorant. What pays for that road you are "traveling upon", your fairy godmother ? Want to "travel" for free, go cross country. And when you get shot for trespass, DON'T call the cops. Because you're all "sovereign" and all that hocus pocus. Fend for yourself.
“Driving is a privilege” oh it is? Then why do I pay for my car, insurance and roads? Last time I checked paying the government is not a privilege. You people are so deluded and it hurts to know you can vote.
Nah i say 30 days minimum and no license at all if they do it once then no second chance take it away. They would do it again and again. Maybe they would learn something but i highly doubt that since most not all but most don't learn from their first mistakes it why i say no second chances.
"A lot of people will be very unhappy with this legislation... A thousand dollars will interfere with their ability to put food on the table and pay the rent." Why would people be unhappy with child safety? Are they saying that THEY are the ones that are ignoring the flashing lights on the bus, endangering the kids? How much would the punishment be if the child was injured or killed while crossing the street to get on the bus? A heck of a lot more than a thousand bucks, and it's even more difficult to pay the rent when you're sitting in a prison cell for manslaughter.
Well, if you don't want to pay a $1000 fine then don't pass school busses with flashing lights.🤷🏼♂️ If you feel you can't wait for a school bus to pick up or drop off then leave where you were sooner than you did.
this law is sorely needed because I witness people passing school buses with flashing red lights and stop signs at least 3 times a month in my part of ATL, I'm all for it. My school bus driving wife and bus riding kids will be thankful. My only request is that the minimum be changed so that it is on a graduated scale to allow for someone with no means to pay an equivalent; conversely someone with lots of money would get the higher fine.
I think, as a deterrent, starting at $1,000 is even a better reason. Just because you are on the lower spectrum doesn't mean you can still get away with it. There are parking tkts that are less than $50 and people still don't pay those fees. You know that fine is high, you be more aware and cautious. If they give a 3strikes on this and your license are revoked as well as paying the fines I live it even better.
If a person refrains from passing a school bus with red lights flashing and stop sign out because of a $1000.00 fine, then a life has been saved, and that person should spend his money wisely.
I drive a School Bus. The reason for those red lights and the stop arm is for the Safety Of The Students. Do you know what excuse we hear when they’re told of the violation? “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.” What? You couldn’t see a big boxy distinctively yellow vehicle with flashing red lights and a stop sign deployed off the side?! If getting hit with a $1000 fine is what it takes to notice us and comply with the law, then so be it
@@user-zu5do6ri6rSound like what those mindless drivers would say. I wonder how they get theirs kids to school everyday? Oh wait, did they love kids at beginning?
@@user-zu5do6ri6r Remember this attitude if you are dragged out of your vehicle for hitting a child. It may be your very last thoughts. Eye for an eye, old testament style.
Former school bus driver here. As long as people ignore when a school bus is picking up or dropping off and drive past them, they need to suffer the consequences. Driving is a privilege not a right.
@@user-zu5do6ri6r You do have the right to travel but driving is NOT traveling when you are the one in control of the vehicle. In order to control that vehicle, there are minimum requirements that you must meet in order to show you are competent behind the wheel. One of which is to NOT BLOW PAST A SCHOOL BUS WHEN CHILDREN ARE GETTING ON OR OFF!
It is very sad to me that fines seem to be the strongest deterrent and not the potential harm that could be caused by doing something illegal on the road.
Better idea, one month impoundment (first offense) $1000 and one month impounded on second, $5000, car seizure, and one year suspended license third offense, additional violations just start imprisonment.
My kid rides the school bus, and I'd hate for any kid to get hurt from another driver. That being said, I think the bigger issues are one, being drivers just not paying attention, two, people not understanding the law. Every single day I go down the street and bus drivers hold their hands up as I'm passing them in the opposite direction as they're still moving. The law does not say stop with the orange/yellow caution lights, it says the red stop lights and sign. Also, if the road is divided, it's the same as an emergency vehicle, you don't have to stop. I also see it every day bus drivers opening the door as the bus is still in motion causing the red lights to come on hundreds of feet away from the stop point. It's very irritating, and I think they do it on purpose. Vehicles can not stop on a dime. Many drivers stop as soon as they see the caution lights causing near accidents everyday. Every week I'm slamming on my brakes for some idiot stopping right when the caustion lights come on, then have the bus pass us and stop 100 feet behind us. People need to wake up, pay attention, and understand the law. Bus drivers not being consistent and opening the door too soon are causing many people to be discarding the lights altogether. Many issues that need fixed.
I'm a school bus driver in illinois and this week 2 day's ago 5 car's in a row blew my stop arm!!! To me a $1,000 fine should be a good deterent but I'd add 90 day suspension of driver's license and car involved impounded along withba towing and storage fee. People need to respect a school bus like a state trooper patrol car.
Suspending a license does absolutely nothing. I don’t think a suspended license has ever stopped anyone from driving, ever. They just drive with a suspended license.
For the elementary children, we also have human monitors to get the children on / off and away from the bus and to check for those hiding under the bus. In-attentive drivers also target the monitors as well. I'm in favor of traffic cams on the bus and the $1000 fine. Responsible driving is the phrase everyone forgets. Narragansett Bay
👏👏👏👏👏 Making people do the right thing especially when children are involved gets a 5 star rating from me Way to go but the price should’ve been higher
0.50 proves why $1000 may not be enough, it shows a car stopped behind the bus but a car from the other direction never stopped. All lanes are supposed to stop unless the highway is divided by an actual median that’s when the bus would have to drop the child off on the other side. I do think that the bus driver shouldn’t ever allow the kids to run across a 4 lane like that but it does happen.
It happens here that a bus is sitting doing nothing at side of road then suddenly opens door. Camera starts recording the moment the door starts opening. Just as the lights come on and the stop sign starts moving out. Once your bumper passes the rear bumper off the bus $$$😮 it's too late. You pretty much have to fear passing any bus for any reason. Don't forget 6 lane highways count. Even though they would never make kid cross such a busy road you can get a ticket for something you can hardly see. Id like to know at what point raising the fine stops becoming just a deterrent and more of a money grab? Different areas can be less busy. Here I can expect to pass about 10 school busses in an average school day. I don't even go near schools. Things are that crowded here.
I agree! This should be the law for all school districts across the country! It might make drivers more aware, to take responsibility for their actions! Good job Georgia!
@@bill944: Get real. Testing the political waters to make sure it wouldn't stop re-election. Just doing the right thing is so 1950's or earlier, for US politicians.
That's a problem right there. How hard is it to hold a consultation session with schoolkids riding those buses, one with them actually speaking? Damn republicans.
Just don't pass a school bus with the lights flashing, this is not difficult except for grieving families who lose children to people who can't stop for school buses.
As an ex bus driver who saw a car pass and almost kill 3 kids, $1000 isn’t enough. Make it $10,000 and loss of the vehicle! People know what the “STOP” sign means and still choose to pass!
As a School Bus Driver in Massachusetts I approve, I also think that If you run through my reds you should have your license revoked and pay $1000. That crap happens almost daily on my route and I am sick and tired of it so $1000 is completely justifiable. We recently had a new driver, go through school bus reds and actually hit a kid who was crossing. The kid was fine (just scrapes and bruising), as the driver slammed his brakes at the last moment. The new driver did have his license revoked though.
The problem with these bills usually is not the part about "let's penalize people who endanger children", it's usually all the other unrelated bs that is thrown into the bill that you also have to say yes to (it's all or nothing) in order to get the stiffer penalty for people endangering children.
This is long overdue. The public always saw school buses as something very lackadaisically enforced. Now they’ll treat it with the respect it deserves.
In my area I believe it's a minimum $1,000 and maximum $10,000 fine. The trick is catching them. Plates are sometimes not easy to read and then you have to prove who was actually behind the wheel( unless you do fine to the owner).
My issue is this was passed under false pretenses in that it was introduced as a totally different bill then completely rewritten at the 11th hour. If its such a great idea, why not put it forward openly? What is concealed in the "We didn't have time to read it before voting" part?
Hmm lets see, 1000 buck fine or prison for vehicular manslaughter of a kid or multiple children? It's sick that people treat child safety like they don't matter.
Im a school bus driver in Canada and this is absolutely crazy how low your fines are. Its 2 grand period here if you pass a school bus stop sign. there is no min, the Min is 2000, up to 5 grand depending on death/injuries. Americans are wild. the fine should be MIN 1500 USD, nothing less.
A 1000 dollar fine for this offence seems light to me... I live in NJ and see people illegally pass school busses all the time... All it takes is one offence to kill a child. No child should die simply getting off or on a school bus... Illegally passing a school bus is on my list of no sympathy offences....
It's literally on the back of the bus. "Stop When Lights Flash" if you can't look up for 20 seconds and read that a $1000 fine will help you understand it and read it.
I think they should keep the fines the same, just add violations. If the bus has completely stopped and somebody runs right by, they should be slapped with a reckless driving violation along with failing to stop at a school bus, if children are crossing and someone speeds by add reckless endangerment to human life on top of that. $400 failure to stop + $2000 for reckless driving + $4000 for reckless endangerment + loss of licence which you have to attend several weekends of traffic school and pay to get your licence back. That's for first time only. A repeat offence should make the first offence seem like disneyland.
If that fine would keep you from paying your rent, the answer is simple: Don't break that law.
Fines exist for poor people this is literally an incentive to speed and pass busses illegally if you can afford it
@@SwagMessiahSteezLordwhat 💀
@@SwagMessiahSteezLordRage bait.
@@SwagMessiahSteezLord???
@@SwagMessiahSteezLordL
Reasonable. A $1000 fine could prevent a death.
Agreed $1000 fine is reasonable I disagree with person giving a news interview trying to say a $1000 fine could prevent a person from putting food on their table, paying their rent, and etc same can be said for the family that would've to bury there children cause a driver couldn't be patience for the children to get off the bus safetly a $1000 fine is a lot cheaper than a funeral.
@@techwhipped: Mr Parsons is living proof that there’s no fool like an old fool.
Not really. Th person or people who pass school buses will pass regardless of if $1K is the minimum or not.
The problem with high fines is that now police -- often very sympathetic to working people -- are simply not going to stop someone for this. Or, if they do stop, they will give a warning. Or they will give some other ticket.
Basically, this is likely to see a decrease in these tickets, but not a decrease in passing school busses.
@@tal_the_great The other problem is that $1000 will not deter everyone equally: the average working person, yes; some rich frat kid or stock broker, no; a single working mother, it could literally get her family evicted and now the community has a whole other set of social problems to deal with. If you want to deter everyone equally, fairly and effectively, make the fine 40 hours of community service.
True that the $1000 fine might prevent you from paying bills, and that's one more reason to pay attention when you're driving ... another is so that you don't freaking kill someone!!
I was about to say that. Like really if you want to be able to pay your bills then watch your driving. But how much you wanna bet that there will be a few people who either ignore it and continue to do wrong, or they test to see if it will happen? Then you have the ones who don't really pay attention to what laws are made and might not know about it until it happens to them.
...how about teaching those incompetent tramps how to cross a road without getting hit by a car? when i was a kid, i was told to look where the eff i'm going and that if i get hit by a car, its my own fault for not opening my eyes and look before crossing.
Except it's not even true. Fines can be paid in small installments, unlike rent and utilities. If you send five bucks a month, you're good.
nope, as a rich person i am proud to ignore the stupid school bus stop sign.
Imagine killing a child and worrying about your light bill
They should have thought about that when they chose to ignore the School Bus Stop Sign and Flashing Red Lights.
You wanna bet that people are going to get fined for driving by busses that don't have the stop sign extended?
@@AegisPupus as soon as the yellow lights start flashing that is the signal that students are about to get off of the bus. But until the sign is extended and the red lights are flashing it is perfectly legal to drive pass the bus.
@@AegisPupus: Because the earth is flat no doubt. /s
@@rogergeyer9851 you are in the wrong delusional thread. /s
What's stopping the police saying the lights are flashing when they weren't.@akiira69
1:57 Don't fucking pass the school bus. Simple.
yet another one who encourages and supports incompetence! how about you teach kids how to cross a road without getting ran over? its their own fault if they run on the road without looking! you can't hold drivers responsible if some dumb kid bounces on the road wihtout looking.
Well sure, but then why not a million dollar fine? Don't get me wrong, I do agree to just NOT do it, but that's the argument I also use to support capital punishment for many crimes, and it seems people don't wanna hear the "just don't do it" line on that topic.
@@technomage6736this isn’t a capital punishment nor getting fined for littering, you’re putting kids lives at risk. Just stop and if you don’t stop suffer the consequences. Boohoo
request denied.
@technomage6736 because 1 million Is unreasonable. Don't be silly
A $1000 fine will prevent innocent children from being killed by your negligent driving, nobody cares about your bills.
Will *help* prevent.
Having more law enforcement on bus routes will be more effective then to raise fines.
The whole idea of a fine is that it's SUPPOSED to hurt you financially, so you don't go out there and do it again. I do think first offense should be less than $1,000 but if someone is a repeat offender then they should get a big fine.
Former school bus driver, once we installed cameras on the side of the bus that could capture tag numbers, the number of violators went way down.
Fines don't fix negligent driving...
@@AegisPupus But they do fill city and state coffers.
Literally, it should be higher than 1k
I retired from being a school bus driver last October (9+ years). The minimum fine could be a MILLION dollars, and it won't change anything unless an effort is made to enforce it. In my school system (JCPS- Louisville, KY) the bus video is not enough. It has to be WITNESSED by a police officer, and they have to act on it RIGHT THEN. If a DRIVER wants to act on it (WITHOUT an officer witnessing it), they need to take off work (costing them a $400 attendance bonus!), go downtown to police HQ, swear out a warrant for the offender, then miss work AGAIN (ANOTHER $400 bonus GONE) to go to court. In my 9+ years, I never heard of a single case of a driver doing that. Surprise, surprise.
If you're missing work in order to protect the kids on your route, that should be considered as still performing your job duties (albeit a voluntary one), thus you get paid for your time at the police station and courthouse.
Otherwise getting a finder's fee from the police for your information leading to an conviction, but the fee imposed on the ignorant driver would have to be substantial to make it worth it to everyone involved.
@@benwagner5089 "Should" is the operative word in your statement.
A number of us drivers would point that out to management during the start-of-year meetings each year, it was made VERY clear to us it wasn't in the cards. Period.
I would still get that ticket dismissed being registered owner is not responsible for the action of the driver.
What's 800 dollars bonus when a life is involved.
Can an adult volunteer ride with you for the purpose of going through that entire process in your place, or does the statute specify that the bus driver has to do all that? The volunteer could sit on the side of passing traffic and observe, or drive behind you in their own vehicle with their own dash-cam, and provide the same testimony. I would do that, but I don't live in KY (yet).
A fine is SUPPOSED to be painful, it’s a PUNISHMENT. Going to jail instead is also likely to prevent you from making your rent payment.
If you want fines to be more equatable fine people in hours. Make them pay a fine equal to what they make per hour times the number of hours they are fined.
LMAO at the Waitress who makes $2.13 per hour, and its her 1st offense. .... Her Fine, would be $2.13 !!!!!! No that is not painful. that is just 1 hours pay. $1,000 to a waitress or Server.. THAT is Punishment.
I only make $18 / hour, by your stipulation of a more equatable fine... I'll drive past 5-6 buses before i even get to $1,000. "oh, the fine is $18 first time? OKAY.... !! can I stop by the station and get change for a $20???" LMAO
@dirtybird437 I think they mean in terms of hours of punishment.
Take tge 18/hr example. If a week in jail for hours of punishment is the crime, and you make 18/hr taxable, it comes out as $720. If you don't have that cash, spend that week in jail. Either way, heavy punishment.
Adding in the whole waitress bit, might be advisable as a minimum fine, or whichever is greater. If a waitress works @ 2.50/hr + an average of 10/hr in tips (which is taxable), you'd take their average week payscale or hours work and do it that way.
Problem is how to enforce it or make sure no one is cooking the books on their income. They might go to the employer directly.
Personally? Take away their license and registration. Make them take a class and pass it. Do it three times? You're barred from driving. Period. But that would be hard to enforce too.
@@redkellbell6169 even Revoking someones license wont stop people from driving. But that $1,000 1st time, $1,500 2nd time, $2,000 + impound for 60 days 3rd time, and JAIL for a month 4th time... will DEFINITELY get people to realize they are not allowed to pass a stopped bus. $1,000 to a waitress who makes $2.13+Tips. thats Rent Money AND groceries they can not get. Its either they work more hours, or think about a Possible Vehicular Manslaughter charge, as well as Civil Wrongful Death conviction, which could be upwards of Tens to Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
@@dirtybird437 the fine would never be for a single hour. It would be something like 40 hours, 80
Hours, etc… as in one week’s pay, 2 weeks pay etc. places that do that kind of fine base it on your annual income tax divided into 40 hour work weeks to figure out your hourly pay. A waitress is going to be fined on their tips and hourly wage.
Thats why you hear of $100,000 speeding tickets from Europe. If someone who makes millions a year gets an 80 hour speeding ticket, you can see $100,000 fines. The idea is the fine should be proportional to hours worked as the fine is an alternative to jail time.
Maybe cops should do their jobs. A cop being present is a hell of a deterrent. They would rather hold a womans face down in a fire ant hill than to be honorable.
lets get this right they say the fine is to excessive because it may cause you to not be able to pay your bills. but the penalty to the family of the child hit by you passing the bus is not being able to hug your child ever again and the thousands of dollars in funeral costs.
Right. At that point, I don’t care about you or your fucking bills. I can’t even believe that that was used as a reason to justify that it was too high of a fine.
@@monbearpigThat's America.
We also don't really care about this kids. This is more about breaking our neighbors than helping our children.
Their kid shouldn't have crossed the street and gotten hit. Darwin strikes again
The government does not determine what is right or wrong, nor should they be legislating anything like this.
Complaining the fine could stop someone from paying rent, but ignoring that someone worthy of the fine could stop some kid from having a life. That says a lot.
He’s a little hat, life is nothing to him
We run medical experiments on our children in this country. When did you start pretending to care about them?
Well, it depends on how many people are fined, vs how many kids (might have been) injured or killed. NTSB stats say in a 10 year period, 97 schoolchildren nationwide were killed as pedestrians in school transportation accidents. Probably not all of those were school bus stop sign accidents, but for sake of argument pretend that they are. Since Georgia is about 1.1% of the US population, that works out to an average 1 child killed every 9.4 years. If you're talking saving one child every 9-10 years, vs making thousands of people starve or homeless every year, then the fine is probably excessive. OTOH if it's only a few people put into that state from the fine each year, then it's probably worth it.
Life is risky, and everyone is fated to eventually die. You can't just assign infinite value to a life and make tradeoff decisions based solely on that. You need to make a fair assessment of the costs to life on both sides.
@@solandri69 Correct. The cost of this is not worth the "lives saved".
I do think that it is part of that legislator's job to consider whether the fine is too high. I think that texting or other distracted driving offenses could kill someone. Should they also be $1000 minimum? In the end I do think that a really high fine for this is OK.
It’s really not hard to stop for a school bus. The fact that a law like this has to be in place is sad, but I support it. It’s a reflection of how bad things have gotten. No one cares anymore.
And they can’t even wait like 2 minutes for the kids to get off the bus. And there has been a law about stopped school buses for as long as school buses have been around
We already give time and money to lazy parents to educate their children. Now you want us to waste more time and money.
Keep your kids out of the way.
Did you know you also have to stop when coming from the other direction?
I only learned that a couple of months ago.
@@Robbedem Yeah, unless its a divided highway. At least, here in PA.
May I also suggest that the city, county, or state government receive nothing and 100% of the money collected by these fines go to the school district in which the offense occurs?
Pay to update busses
@@thatguy8005 need more busses with three point harnesses!
Need to add to that the the school's budget can't be reduced for any fine money received.
That’s sounds very reasonable.
How about they go to a program that funds school supply and clothing purchases for low-income students?
First offense should be a hefty fine. Subsequent offenses should be criminal with mandatory suspension.
3rd offence Permanent ban from driving?
And I know you guys in the US, not being able to drive is as bad as being under house arrest.
suspension should also come with confiscation of the vehicle for the duration, total vehicle forfeit (without cancelling any unpaid loan debt on the vehicle) on 3rd offense
4th offense? hows 6 months in the county jail sound? ... "what you in for?" - "i passed a stopped school bus and got 6 months"
Too bad part of a sentence couldn't be that they would spend weeks walking the same crosswalks in front of the school, anticipating bad drivers just like them.
@@QuarrellaDeVil Community service as a crossing guard in lieu of jail time
yeah a murder conviction could prevent someone from paying rent and putting food on the table too. so lets just throw away all laws and fines and penalties.
I caught that too! What a ridiculous thing for a senator, or anybody, to say! If you can't afford the fine, DON'T PASS SCHOOL BUSES!!!
@@shermanmathieu6981 a cop pulled me over for speeding today. I told him he cant give a me a ticket cause of the financial hardships and it will prevent me from feeding my family and paying rent.
That excuse didnt go over too well with him.
lol i didnt actually get pulled over but just imagine saying that to a cop who stopped you.
Parents are too entitled these days. There is no legitimate reason for public schools or school buses to still exist.
Education can be done online, from the child's home.
@@user-zu5do6ri6r but it didnt work during covid
What kind of craziness are you spouting? I'm guessing you're assuming someone can stay home with the children? What about a single parent household? Maybe you should have been better educated.
I'm completely stunned anyone would be against this.
I've seen a lot of elder driver accidents lately. They are turning without looking. Time to give up their license.
$1000 could prevent someone from paying their bills? Stopping for a school bus could prevent someone from dying.
We need this law in the rest of the states.
No we don’t.
@@mikecumbo7531Yes we do.
@@MenaPolicedepartment you will have departments use it as a revenue tool, like asset forfeiture. If the offense is so egregious then the driver should be arrested.
@@mikecumbo7531 That's why a court system exist.
@@MenaPolicedepartment do you not agree innocent people have been wronged by asset forfeiture laws despite courts? Maybe enforcement of existing traffic laws should increased?
If you ever drive in GA, you would understand the need.
So a minimum of $1,000 is too steep for maybe almost killing a kid, stepping off the bus?? Jeez, that elderly congressman needs to retire!
I have an idea. Just don't pass a school bus. Problem solved.
And, I don't pass em!
I have a better idea, keep your kids at home. Schools are outdated, there is nothing they learn at school, that cannot be taught at home.
@@user-zu5do6ri6rWell... except for socialization skills from people outside the 🏡. That's the one thing that regular and private schools 'teach' , which is good for a kiddo to compete and win in adulthood.
@@user-zu5do6ri6rthe problem with homeschooling is that it's hard to teach kids to be smarter than their teachers, and parents who homeschool tend to be the kind of people who are stupid enough to think they're smarter than all the experts on every subject.
That argument no longer stands up to scrutiny, considering the availability of educational materials these days.
Public school teachers aren't known for being the smartest our society has to offer.
Anyone rejecting this over the $1000 fine is a disgrace.
Ask a parent what their child is worth ..... you'll never have to pay this fine IF you obey the Law .
“A lot of people will be unhappy with this law.”
Then don’t break the law! If you can’t afford the fine, then don’t break the law.
I used to get stuck behind a “short bus” loading a disabled kid occasionally when heading to work. While people behind me would honk at the bus and even pass it, I just put the car in park and waited. People need to learn to chill behind the wheel.
Fines are not going to stop them only if they get caught
The cameras that automatically turn on when the red flashers start get really clear pictures of drivers going around a stopped school bus. In many cases, a slam dunk for the fine.
To add onto Patsyk, those cameras have a full 180 view. A couple of states already have these cameras on their busses; PA pulled in 860k of school bus ticket revenue between July 2023 and December 2023, which is insane considering how schools have summer break from late June to early September.
Won't stop rich people. I've seen rich say...."it's not against the law. It just costs you $1000 to do it."
Laws that have fines only apply to the poor.
Wait... so how did a bill about public debt become a school bus bill? Whether $1000 is too much, not enough, or just right, I want to know how (and why) a bill gets converted like that.
Is all about the money
Lots of white out.
Probably still has some of that other stuff in it. Just now the school bus part is the champion of the bill to get it passed
@@pocketlint82: Yes, which is an example of why our legal system ends up being such a MESS, re the mass of rules and regulations, complexity, lack of consistency, etc.
If you're too poor to pay the fine, maybe you should, i dunno, not pass a bus with its lights flashing and bar out.
I know, it's a mind blowing concept.
As a school bus driver I applaud this high fine. Too many people when behind the wheel are not paying attention by being on their phones or doing other stuff, driving is a privilege and not a right. The death of a child because someone is in too big of a hurry or isn’t paying attention while driving should never happen.
Traveling is a right. Driving is just Traveling.
@@user-zu5do6ri6r driving is a privilege you earn by obtaining a drivers license and having insurance on your vehicle so if you cause an accident the other parties are not financially burdened, you also buy license plates to help pay for the roads you “travel” on. Otherwise you can travel with the feet God gave you.
Sounds like you must be one of those Sovereign Citizens that law abiding citizens get a good laugh at all the time from the videos y’all upload of yourselves being so stupid on traffic stops.
The amount of times I’ve almost gotten hit while getting off the bus to walk to the other sidewalk to walk home because someone in the neighborhood isn’t paying attention…WAY too many times, my state has a similar law the fine here is like I think 500 or 600, I’ll have to check again.
@@user-zu5do6ri6r Don't be ignorant. What pays for that road you are "traveling upon", your fairy godmother ? Want to "travel" for free, go cross country. And when you get shot for trespass, DON'T call the cops. Because you're all "sovereign" and all that hocus pocus. Fend for yourself.
“Driving is a privilege” oh it is? Then why do I pay for my car, insurance and roads? Last time I checked paying the government is not a privilege. You people are so deluded and it hurts to know you can vote.
$1000 is nothing compared to a child's life. Give them a week in jail, minimum.
Legit
It's hard to take you seriously, when we as a society just performed medical experiments on our kids in mass.
Suspend license and make them take a bus
Nah i say 30 days minimum and no license at all if they do it once then no second chance take it away. They would do it again and again. Maybe they would learn something but i highly doubt that since most not all but most don't learn from their first mistakes it why i say no second chances.
Well don't blow through a school bus sign
"A lot of people will be very unhappy with this legislation... A thousand dollars will interfere with their ability to put food on the table and pay the rent."
Why would people be unhappy with child safety? Are they saying that THEY are the ones that are ignoring the flashing lights on the bus, endangering the kids?
How much would the punishment be if the child was injured or killed while crossing the street to get on the bus? A heck of a lot more than a thousand bucks, and it's even more difficult to pay the rent when you're sitting in a prison cell for manslaughter.
Well, if you don't want to pay a $1000 fine then don't pass school busses with flashing lights.🤷🏼♂️ If you feel you can't wait for a school bus to pick up or drop off then leave where you were sooner than you did.
$1000 fine will prevent you from paying rent? Passing a bus could prevent a child from living. Absolutely reprehensible take.
The solution is simple: don’t run the school bus stop sign.
this law is sorely needed because I witness people passing school buses with flashing red lights and stop signs at least 3 times a month in my part of ATL, I'm all for it. My school bus driving wife and bus riding kids will be thankful.
My only request is that the minimum be changed so that it is on a graduated scale to allow for someone with no means to pay an equivalent; conversely someone with lots of money would get the higher fine.
i don’t even live in atlanta (i live in macon) and i see that shit happen daily. anyone complaining is a POS who illegally passes buses
I think, as a deterrent, starting at $1,000 is even a better reason. Just because you are on the lower spectrum doesn't mean you can still get away with it. There are parking tkts that are less than $50 and people still don't pay those fees. You know that fine is high, you be more aware and cautious. If they give a 3strikes on this and your license are revoked as well as paying the fines I live it even better.
I seen 4 cars go by a school bus and it was just at one stop. I have dash cam footage and submitted it to the local police department.
Kids need to just stay home. There is no reason they cannot receive an education from their house.
What's the graduated scale of prison time for killing a child?
Instead of fining people, have their license revoked.
If a person refrains from passing a school bus with red lights flashing and stop sign out because of a $1000.00 fine, then a life has been saved, and that person should spend his money wisely.
"$1000 fine may prevent someone from paying rent..."
How about we don't pass school buses with their lights flashing and stop arm out.
I drive a School Bus.
The reason for those red lights and the stop arm is for the Safety Of The Students.
Do you know what excuse we hear when they’re told of the violation?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”
What?
You couldn’t see a big boxy distinctively yellow vehicle with flashing red lights and a stop sign deployed off the side?!
If getting hit with a $1000 fine is what it takes to notice us and comply with the law, then so be it
Keep the kids at home and safety won't be an issue.
@@user-zu5do6ri6rSound like what those mindless drivers would say. I wonder how they get theirs kids to school everyday? Oh wait, did they love kids at beginning?
@@user-zu5do6ri6rlet's everyone stay at home and no one ever go outside.. it's dangerous out there
If they couldn't see a vehicle as large as a bus they SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING.
@@user-zu5do6ri6r Remember this attitude if you are dragged out of your vehicle for hitting a child. It may be your very last thoughts. Eye for an eye, old testament style.
Former school bus driver here. As long as people ignore when a school bus is picking up or dropping off and drive past them, they need to suffer the consequences. Driving is a privilege not a right.
Driving is just traveling. We were supposed to have the right to travel. Now traveling is just a privilege.
@@user-zu5do6ri6r You do have the right to travel but driving is NOT traveling when you are the one in control of the vehicle. In order to control that vehicle, there are minimum requirements that you must meet in order to show you are competent behind the wheel. One of which is to NOT BLOW PAST A SCHOOL BUS WHEN CHILDREN ARE GETTING ON OR OFF!
@@user-zu5do6ri6rYeah, you have the right to travel on foot
It is very sad to me that fines seem to be the strongest deterrent and not the potential harm that could be caused by doing something illegal on the road.
That’s ridiculous
This is a great start. I hope there is a huge campaign for public awareness as well as a very detailed plan of enforcement and issuance of the fines.
If you don't pass a stopped school bus then you don't have to worry about the $1,000 fine.
Better idea, one month impoundment (first offense) $1000 and one month impounded on second, $5000, car seizure, and one year suspended license third offense, additional violations just start imprisonment.
As a wealthy person look like I can do it 4 times before it is any real worry. Must be tough being on of the poor. (This is a joke)
You’re going to give them four chances to kill a child before putting them in jail?
how maybe base the fine on your income per year. So, it hurt the rich people as well equally
My kid rides the school bus, and I'd hate for any kid to get hurt from another driver. That being said, I think the bigger issues are one, being drivers just not paying attention, two, people not understanding the law. Every single day I go down the street and bus drivers hold their hands up as I'm passing them in the opposite direction as they're still moving. The law does not say stop with the orange/yellow caution lights, it says the red stop lights and sign. Also, if the road is divided, it's the same as an emergency vehicle, you don't have to stop.
I also see it every day bus drivers opening the door as the bus is still in motion causing the red lights to come on hundreds of feet away from the stop point. It's very irritating, and I think they do it on purpose. Vehicles can not stop on a dime. Many drivers stop as soon as they see the caution lights causing near accidents everyday. Every week I'm slamming on my brakes for some idiot stopping right when the caustion lights come on, then have the bus pass us and stop 100 feet behind us. People need to wake up, pay attention, and understand the law. Bus drivers not being consistent and opening the door too soon are causing many people to be discarding the lights altogether. Many issues that need fixed.
I slow down when I see the amber lights come on, and prepare for the red lights.
It's sick to oppose this law! What are kids lives worth to politicians? There is NO excuse in violating that law.
I'm a school bus driver in illinois and this week 2 day's ago 5 car's in a row blew my stop arm!!! To me a $1,000 fine should be a good deterent but I'd add 90 day suspension of driver's license and car involved impounded along withba towing and storage fee. People need to respect a school bus like a state trooper patrol car.
Dont pass a school bus it the wont be an issue ,
Not enough. Should also include license suspension.
Nothing is more precious than the lives of our children.
You lost that claim after Covid-19. Most parents were fully willing to run medical experiments on their kids.
Suspending a license does absolutely nothing. I don’t think a suspended license has ever stopped anyone from driving, ever. They just drive with a suspended license.
For the elementary children, we also have human monitors to get the children on / off and away from the bus and to check for those hiding under the bus. In-attentive drivers also target the monitors as well. I'm in favor of traffic cams on the bus and the $1000 fine. Responsible driving is the phrase everyone forgets. Narragansett Bay
If they stop when the bus signals 🛑, They won’t have to use the rent money to pay the fine.
It should be a 900 thousand dollar fine instead of a 1 thousand dollar fine.
Why would that old man vote against protecting children????
👏👏👏👏👏 Making people do the right thing especially when children are involved gets a 5 star rating from me Way to go but the price should’ve been higher
$10,000 fine,
90 days in jail.
5 years loss of license,
car crushed.
Or the next dead child is your fault.
The sign said "Fine for passing school bus stop sign" - so why did i get a ticket?
0.50 proves why $1000 may not be enough, it shows a car stopped behind the bus but a car from the other direction never stopped. All lanes are supposed to stop unless the highway is divided by an actual median that’s when the bus would have to drop the child off on the other side. I do think that the bus driver shouldn’t ever allow the kids to run across a 4 lane like that but it does happen.
Here in Missouri the courts have ruled that in a four lane road ONLY the lanes nearest the bus need to stop. Not the entire street. It makes sense
All for it.. now stop hiring just anyone to drive the busses. OMG the stupidity I’ve seen. From car and bus drivers.
Colorado it's an immediate 12 point violation and mandatory court appearance. Stop passing schoolbuses.
It happens here that a bus is sitting doing nothing at side of road then suddenly opens door. Camera starts recording the moment the door starts opening. Just as the lights come on and the stop sign starts moving out. Once your bumper passes the rear bumper off the bus $$$😮 it's too late. You pretty much have to fear passing any bus for any reason. Don't forget 6 lane highways count. Even though they would never make kid cross such a busy road you can get a ticket for something you can hardly see.
Id like to know at what point raising the fine stops becoming just a deterrent and more of a money grab?
Different areas can be less busy. Here I can expect to pass about 10 school busses in an average school day. I don't even go near schools. Things are that crowded here.
Only $1,000? Should be more
I agree! This should be the law for all school districts across the country! It might make drivers more aware, to take responsibility for their actions! Good job Georgia!
My niece was seriously injured by someone passing a school bus.
Shows how much the governor cares when he takes weeks to sign it after he did that veto.
Making and passing laws shouldn't be done hastily.
@@bill944: Get real. Testing the political waters to make sure it wouldn't stop re-election.
Just doing the right thing is so 1950's or earlier, for US politicians.
Georgia should be educating there people. A heavy fine has never educated anyone....
Should have been changed to be reckless driving. Then insurance company is notified. Rate goes up.
Why in thee hell would anybody vote against this!
Should be 10,000 dollar fine and 30 days in jail.
This should be in every state in the country💯
The people who are complaining are the ones who are committing these acts.
Good on Georgia! Children do not have a voice in this bill. It is our responsibility to protect them.
That's a problem right there. How hard is it to hold a consultation session with schoolkids riding those buses, one with them actually speaking? Damn republicans.
$1000 fine is just what they need to stop the recklessness on the roads I drive for the city I have a CDL so I will never pass a school bus
If an $1,000 fine is going to prevent you from paying your rent then maybe that's the motivation you need to not endanger children's lives.
GO ADDY'S LAW
These GA drivers are menaces they don’t wanna lose a second of time I think it should be $5k
Why are people arguing against this? Pay attention on the road, especially when kids are involved.
$10,000 fine and loss of driving privileges for 1 year.
Must be able to pay your rent, doesn’t matter that dangerous driving is potentially life threatening ! 🤦🏻♂️
Just don't pass a school bus with the lights flashing, this is not difficult except for grieving families who lose children to people who can't stop for school buses.
As an ex bus driver who saw a car pass and almost kill 3 kids, $1000 isn’t enough. Make it $10,000 and loss of the vehicle! People know what the “STOP” sign means and still choose to pass!
Where we live in Canada it’s a $5000 fine and likely loss of license which equates to about $15 000 when insurance penalties kick in . . .
I'm a parent. A life is priceless. $1,000 is not bad, IMO.
As a School Bus Driver in Massachusetts I approve, I also think that If you run through my reds you should have your license revoked and pay $1000. That crap happens almost daily on my route and I am sick and tired of it so $1000 is completely justifiable. We recently had a new driver, go through school bus reds and actually hit a kid who was crossing. The kid was fine (just scrapes and bruising), as the driver slammed his brakes at the last moment. The new driver did have his license revoked though.
Welcome back Georgia, to the world of personal responsibility.
The problem with these bills usually is not the part about "let's penalize people who endanger children", it's usually all the other unrelated bs that is thrown into the bill that you also have to say yes to (it's all or nothing) in order to get the stiffer penalty for people endangering children.
That's the problem with most bills to be honest.
This is long overdue. The public always saw school buses as something very lackadaisically enforced. Now they’ll treat it with the respect it deserves.
'$1000 fine. They can't pay their rent, can't buy food.' Then don't pass a stopped school bus!
In my area I believe it's a minimum $1,000 and maximum $10,000 fine. The trick is catching them. Plates are sometimes not easy to read and then you have to prove who was actually behind the wheel( unless you do fine to the owner).
My issue is this was passed under false pretenses in that it was introduced as a totally different bill then completely rewritten at the 11th hour.
If its such a great idea, why not put it forward openly? What is concealed in the "We didn't have time to read it before voting" part?
Hmm lets see, 1000 buck fine or prison for vehicular manslaughter of a kid or multiple children? It's sick that people treat child safety like they don't matter.
Im a school bus driver in Canada and this is absolutely crazy how low your fines are. Its 2 grand period here if you pass a school bus stop sign. there is no min, the Min is 2000, up to 5 grand depending on death/injuries.
Americans are wild.
the fine should be MIN 1500 USD, nothing less.
$25,000 fine and license suspended for 1 year is better.
That old guy definitely passes when the stop sign is out.
A 1000 dollar fine for this offence seems light to me... I live in NJ and see people illegally pass school busses all the time... All it takes is one offence to kill a child. No child should die simply getting off or on a school bus... Illegally passing a school bus is on my list of no sympathy offences....
It's literally on the back of the bus. "Stop When Lights Flash" if you can't look up for 20 seconds and read that a $1000 fine will help you understand it and read it.
I think they should keep the fines the same, just add violations. If the bus has completely stopped and somebody runs right by, they should be slapped with a reckless driving violation along with failing to stop at a school bus, if children are crossing and someone speeds by add reckless endangerment to human life on top of that. $400 failure to stop + $2000 for reckless driving + $4000 for reckless endangerment + loss of licence which you have to attend several weekends of traffic school and pay to get your licence back. That's for first time only. A repeat offence should make the first offence seem like disneyland.
Bravo....people don't like it, give them an "OR"....say like "$1000 dollar fine OR 100 days in jail"!