![]() ![]() The local jurisdiction gets to keep the remaining 40% – an independently funded cash cow that local governments love, especially police departments. Thereafter, the company retains 60% of the revenue in a perpetual lopsided deal. The “violator-funded” camera company will install bus cameras and a ticket processing system for free! In exchange, the company gets to keep all of the ticket revenue until their start-up costs have been fully reimbursed. Pitch 2: The camera system can be installed at “no cost” to the local government, while conveniently side-stepping normal competitive bid processes. Not coincidentally, each camera system also includes a very efficient citation processing and penalty collection infrastructure. And, it can all be done with enforcement cameras on school buses capable of nabbing violators (and generating revenue from penalties) at a level far exceeding that of law enforcement officers. The demonized “violators” need to be ticketed, heavily fined, and thereby “educated” to obey traffic laws in order to keep our kids safe. They paint a dire, wildly exaggerated picture of kids continuously being at risk of being struck, injured, and killed as they get on and off school buses, having to dodge many “near misses” by out-of-control, homicidal maniacs. Pitch 1: The camera companies’ modus operandi is to create and maintain a market for their product by preying upon peoples’ emotional desire to keep kids safe. Without citing any data relating to collisions, they claim that it’s extremely dangerous for kids to be transported on school buses because our communities are rife with hordes of reckless drivers who ignore school bus stoplights. ![]() (Note: All references to Montgomery County in this diary pertain to the one in Maryland.) There are two steps to the pitch: Many school districts and local governments, like where I live in Montgomery County, Maryland, have been bamboozled by persuasive sales pitches from school bus stoplight camera companies. The "service" they provide does nothing to protect children. ![]() As a retired transportation manager for a large city, it didn’t take me long to find compelling evidence that school bus stoplight camera companies are useless bottom-feeders, running an amazingly slick and lucrative racket. If a 70-year-old retiree with a spotless driving record for decades can be snared in an exorbitantly expensive nothing-burger violation, this must be happening to a lot of other drivers too, including those who cannot afford to pay the fines. However, over the following weeks, I got to thinking. Regretfully, I was intimidated enough to just pay the fine and be done with it. It demanded the immediate payment of $250 and included a threat of doubled penalties, plus court costs if I unsuccessfully contested the ticket. A few days later I received a boilerplate citation in the mail stating that a camera on the bus had documented a violation (pictures included!). But, when I was in the middle of the intersection, the bus driver activated a stop sign and red stoplights. One afternoon last December, as I was driving my car on a two-lane residential street in Rockville, Maryland, I slowly and safely passed a school bus stopped at a corner on the other side of the street. What’s the purpose of school bus stoplight camera tickets, safety, or money? Spoiler alert, it’s all about the money. ![]()
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