Suffolk bus fines and congestion pricing

Suffolk bus fines stir controversy

Newsday has written several articles about the problems of a well-intended school bus camera program that all too often unfairly penalizes Suffolk County motorists [“Suffolk rolls in green; some drivers see red,” News, Feb. 6].

Recklessly passing a stopped school bus on a residential street is one thing. Receiving a $250 ticket for unwittingly passing one on a busy four- or five-lane divided highway is quite another matter.

Reviewing a video for a summons I received showed my vehicle, followed by another school bus (yes, another school bus) and three other motorists. The stopped bus we allegedly violated was facing the opposite direction across four lanes of busy traffic.

Potentially, more than $1,000 in fined offenses were recorded in less than 30 seconds from drivers who probably had no idea that a law was being violated. The article implied the program is being reviewed. Hopefully, it would improve discretion with fines.

We can start by having lower fines for first offenders and eliminating the need to penalize motorists on busy four- or five-lane highways. Students usually don’t try to safely cross these wide highways, nor should they.

— Tim Huss, Islip

Nothing boils my blood more than seeing a reckless driver blow past a school bus with the stop sign extended.

In front of my home, I’ve witnessed this many times. I’m curious why individuals accused of endangering children are treated by Newsday as though they are victims.

If there are due-process concerns, then I support and encourage the appropriate appeals and conversations with elected representatives about reforming the process.

Beyond that, if one is concerned about the impact of fines on one’s budget, I encourage the driver to reform his driving behavior rather than complain about getting caught.

The epidemic of reckless driving on Long Island is horrendous, and I would hope that individuals might have a moment of clarity when their mad dashes cause them to be caught in the act of endangering children.

— Michael Hunt, Franklin Square

One reason that my vehicle is equipped with a dashcam is because I learned years ago, as a witness to an accident, that people lie. Another reason is because of camera violations.

Many people complain that they receive summonses because the school bus stop sign was being deployed just as they were passing, making it impossible for them to stop in time or, in some cases, requiring them to stop in the middle of an intersection. If a sign is deployed in a manner that would require motorists to stop in dangerous situations such as these, it is the operator of the school bus who should be issued the summons for unsafe deployment of a manual traffic control device.

Additionally, if a summons indicates an incorrect street name, just like any other ticket issued with incorrect information about the driver, vehicle or location, it should be automatically dismissed. Dashcams can provide valuable information about both the accuracy or lack thereof of these summonses as well as evidence of unsafe deployment of a school bus stop sign.

— Leonard Cohen, Wantagh

I have zero sympathy for people paying school bus fines. If they cannot afford paying them, then try obeying the law. Suffolk County’s receiving nearly $25 million in such fines last year is a sad indication of how low our societal standards have become.

— Bruce Gaugler, Port Jefferson Station

Better use of $11.1B would have been wise

After reading how the first official train ride to Grand Central Madison saves Long Island commuters to New York City about 20 minutes each way, I read Randi F. Marshall’s column “A misguided attack on the plan to toll traffic” that same day [Opinion, Jan. 26].

Marshall implies that commuters, businesses and travelers using driving routes in the city should synchronize their schedules with the railroad, subway and bus schedules to change how they manage their time and cost of getting where they need to go.

Sometimes, it can add hours and fares to travel this way. Many will pay the added congestion charges because it still works out better. The people pushing this idea know it, too.

How many alternate routes or bypasses could have been created for the same $11.1 billion in the past 15 years? How many decades will it take to recoup the cost of the new train route? How much is now being spent to make Penn Station “more attractive”?

Big budgets of federal, state and local governments and transportation authorities are all filled from the little pockets of the average citizen. Maybe some elected officials have figured that out.

— Thomas Fanning, St. James