BETHLEHEM, Pa. — State Sen. Lisa Boscola said Pennsylvania’s school bus stop-arm camera law — enacted to protect children from reckless drivers — is unfairly penalizing thousands of motorists.
Boscola, D-Lehigh/Northampton, said she plans to introduce legislation to reform the 2018 law.
She cited mounting complaints from residents who say they were wrongly cited and left with little recourse to fight back.
It follows an analysis by LehighValleyNews.com that found not a single appeals hearing was held for the thousands of school bus stop citations issued in the Lehigh Valley from January to May.
“This is getting ridiculous,” Boscola said. “I know so many people getting these tickets who would never blow past a bus with the arm out.
"These are good citizens. But they’re getting ticketed, and they didn’t even know they did anything wrong.”
The stop-arm camera law lets school districts install cameras on buses to record drivers who illegally pass when red lights are flashing and stop arms are extended.
Each violation carries a $300 fine — among the state’s highest non-criminal traffic penalties.
Boscola said the law’s intent — to protect students boarding and exiting buses — was sound, but its implementation has gone awry.
“It was supposed to go after egregious, intentional violators — people speeding past stopped buses while kids are crossing,” she said.
“Instead, it’s catching people who didn’t realize a bus arm was out, or a bus with its arm out when it's not unloading and no kids are around. That’s not fair.”
Changes proposed
Under the current law, violations must be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle within 30 days.
But this year, LehighValleyNews.com spoke to dozens of residents who said the appeals system offered little in the way of due process once a violation was received.
The delay for appeals stemmed from a backlog of cases from 2024 and the overwhelming number the state's eight hearing officers had on their dockets, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Boscola said the system needs to be fixed across the board and her forthcoming bill would create a tiered system of fines and fix what she calls a “broken” appeals process.
Under her proposal, drivers would receive:
- $100 for a first offense
- $200 for a second offense
- $300 for a third or truly dangerous violation — such as passing a stopped bus while children are crossing or driving recklessly.
To ensure dangerous behavior still is treated seriously, Boscola said the bill would let law enforcement issue a $300 fine for egregious first-time violations, such as passing a stopped school bus at high speed or while children are visible in the roadway.
“Three hundred dollars is a hefty amount, especially if you did nothing wrong."Sen. Lisa Boscola
She said until changes are made, the current system is “pay now, fight later” and that’s not how it should work.
“Three hundred dollars is a hefty amount, especially if you did nothing wrong,” Boscola said. “For families that aren’t making much money, that’s a lot to swallow.”
Her legislation also would impose a 30-day deadline for PennDOT to schedule appeal hearings.
“If PennDOT doesn’t schedule an appeal within 30 days and there’s no good reason, that ticket should be dropped,” she said. “People can’t be waiting indefinitely.”
Disparities in enforcement
Boscola pointed to sharp contrasts in how local police departments handle violations.
In Salisbury Township, Sgt. Bryan Losagio said police approved just 41% (49 out of 117) of alleged violations in September after reviewing video footage and rejected the rest.
In Bethlehem, Capt. William Audelo said 287 citations were approved by the department in September, but data was unavailable on the number of violations reviewed and not ticketed.
Wilson Area School District had 11 violations reviewed in September, according to Transportation Supervisor Chris Shatto, with an approval rate of 55%.
In Easton, 384 citations were administered for the month, Assistant Superintendent for District Operations Josh Ziatyk said.
That number was down 13.9% from September 2024, Ziatyk said, but did not include a number of citations rejected.
He said the highest areas for violations were in the 2500 and 2600 blocks of Route 248, which were the top two areas for violations the prior school year.
Other departments have approved far more violations with little public explanation — something Losagio said could erode public confidence in the program.
“I believe this system, if used consistently and fairly, will certainly make an impact on this safety issue," he said.
“Our department has one of the lowest violation approval ratings in the state because we use the same standard that we would use if we were physically sitting in a patrol car and saw the violation."
He said violations not approved in the month of September were denied for the following reasons:
- 29 were thrown out due to improper activation of the school bus stop arm (bus driver error);
- 19 were thrown out because the vehicle did not pass a bus with its sign out, or proper yellow lighting was not displayed, allowing the driver a reasonable amount of time to stop;
- 10 were thrown out because the driver’s view of the bus was obstructed;
- Nine were thrown out because the vehicle was unable to stop safely, including vehicles on blind curves encountering a school bus;
- One was thrown out because the automated system sent an alleged violation outside of Salisbury’s jurisdiction.
Salisbury police also hold training sessions with bus drivers to help them understand the law and operate the stop-arm systems correctly — an approach Boscola said other districts should follow.
“If Salisbury can do it right, that should be the model,” she said. “They’re balancing safety with fairness. That should be the goal.”
The department routinely posts videos of some of the most egregious violations on its Facebook page, including one this month where a car sped past two children standing in the 1700 block of Seidersville Road trying to cross the street after exiting the bus.
"If the large yellow bus with the bright flashing red stop sign isn't enough to make you stop, the kids in the middle of the roadway should!" the post reads.
Lack of transparency, senator says
The original law, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, and former state Sen. Pat Browne, required school districts to publicly post violation data online so residents and lawmakers could monitor enforcement.
Boscola said that mandate has been largely ignored.
“There’s supposed to be public reporting on how many violations are issued and approved," she said. "If that data isn’t being shared, how can we tell whether the system is being abused?”
She said she absolutely supports the original goal of keeping children safe, but believes the system must be fixed to ensure fairness and accountability.
“This bill was supposed to protect children, and it still should,” she said.
“But right now, it’s hurting innocent people. Something’s going on — whether it’s malfunctioning stop arms, poor training, or lack of oversight — and it’s not right.”
She said legislators should not be afraid to revisit the issue.
“Not every bill that passes is perfect. When it’s not, we go back, we tweak it, and we make it better. That’s what I’m trying to do — protect kids, but treat people fairly.”Sen. Lisa Boscola
Reached Friday by phone, Schlossberg agreed.
“We have to address this,” he said, acknowledging he’s heard from a number of constituents regarding the validity of citations and long delays in the appeals process.
Schlossberg said he would support addressing the appeals timeline and called Boscola’s pitch for a tiered penalty system “very thoughtful.”
“Not every bill that passes is perfect,” Boscola said. “When it’s not, we go back, we tweak it, and we make it better. That’s what I’m trying to do — protect kids, but treat people fairly.”
Boscola said she hopes to introduce her revised legislation perhaps as early as this week.
State Sen. Nick Miller, D-Lehigh/Northampton and a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, expressed confidence in the current law.
"Enforcing the existing law is essential to keeping our communities safe and protecting our most vulnerable residents," Miller said Friday in a prepared statement.
"Drivers need to be held accountable for dangerous traffic violations that put children, families, and others at risk of serious harm.
"This legislation strengthens the enforcement process to ensure violations are addressed swiftly and fairly, so that both accountability and timely resolution are achieved. Thank you to Senator Boscola for proposing this important legislation.”
Appeal over access to records
As legislators weigh changes to the law, LehighValleyNews.com also awaits a ruling in Lehigh County Court stemming from a Right-to-Know request seeking data from the Allentown School District on stop-arm camera violations.
The district, as do others across the Lehigh Valley, contracts with BusPatrol America to operate its stop-arm camera program.
After it was ordered by Pennsylvania's Office of Open Records to turn over its full contract with BusPatrol and other related documents, including ticket revenue received, BusPatrol appealed the ruling.
Arguments are set for Nov. 21.
Allentown School District said it had 1,188 violations in September, which is a rate of 56.57 per weekday, with buses on the road 21 days. That equates to 0.41 violations per bus, per day, with a fleet of 139 buses.
The rate continues to exceed that of larger cities like Pittsburgh. Allentown did not share the total number of violations reviewed or disapproved.
In an online scorecard, Pittsburgh had 12,832 violations reviewed and 11,191 approved in the 2024-25 school year, about 87%. It said 1,762 were contested, but only 652 made it to a scheduled appeals hearing. The rate of success in hearings to have the citation overturned was about 70%.
