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S3670
SENATE, No. 3670
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 24, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� ANTHONY M. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Diegnan
SYNOPSIS
���� Allows municipality to use school bus video footage
to ticket driver for illegally passing school bus.�
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning school buses, supplementing P.L.1965, c.119
(C.39:3B-1 et seq.), and amending P.L.1942, c.192.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� (New section)� a.� A
municipality may use school bus video camera footage to assist in the
enforcement of section 1 of P.L.1942, c.192 (C.39:4-128.1).�
���� b.��� In any municipality in
which recorded images from a school bus video camera are used to assist in the
enforcement of section 1 of P.L.1942, c.192 (C.39:4-128.1), a law enforcement
official of the municipality shall review the recorded images produced by the
video camera.� In conducting the review, the law enforcement official shall
determine whether there is sufficient evidence to conclude that a violation of
section 1 of P.L.1942, c.192 (C.39:4-128.1) has occurred and shall issue,
within 90 days from the date on which the violation occurred, a summons when it
is deemed appropriate.� A school bus video camera summons issued pursuant to
this section shall be served by a law enforcement official in accordance with
the Rules of Court. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the
recorded images produced by the school bus video camera shall be available for
the exclusive use of any law enforcement official for the purposes of
discharging the official's duties pursuant to P.L.2007, c.348 (C.39:4-8.12 et seq.).�
Any recorded image or information produced in connection with a school bus
video camera shall not be deemed a public record under P.L.1963, c.73
(C.47:1A-1 et seq.) or the common law concerning access to public records.� The
recorded images shall not be discoverable as a public record by any person,
entity, or governmental agency, except upon a subpoena issued by a grand jury
or a court order in a criminal matter, nor shall they be offered in evidence in
any civil or administrative proceeding not directly related to a violation of
section 1 of P.L.1942, c.192 (C.39:4-128.1).�
���� Any recorded image or
information produced by a school bus video camera in connection with a specific
violation of section 1 of P.L.1942, c.192 (C.39:4-128.1) shall be purged and
not retained for more than 60 days after the collection of any fine or penalty.�
If a law enforcement official does not issue a summons for a violation within
90 days, all recorded images and information collected pertaining to that
alleged violation shall be purged within three days.�
���� c.���� Except as provided in
subsection d. of this section, the owner and operator shall be jointly liable
for a summons issued pursuant to subsection a. of this section, unless the
owner can show that the vehicle was used without his consent, express or implied.�
An owner who pays any fine, penalty, costs or administrative fees in connection
with a summons issued pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall have the
right to recover that sum from the operator in a court of competent
jurisdiction.
���� d.��� The owner of a motor
vehicle who is a lessor shall not be liable for a summons issued pursuant to
subsection a. of this section when the motor vehicle is under the control or in
the possession of the lessee, if upon notice of a summons issued, the owner of
the motor vehicle which was leased at the time of the offense notifies the
clerk of the court where the case is pending, by an affidavit of the name and
address of the lessee.� The affidavit shall be in a form prescribed by the
Administrative Director of the Courts.
���� After providing the name and
address of the lessee, the owner shall not be required to attend a hearing of
the offense, unless otherwise notified by the court.
���� e.���� In no case shall motor
vehicle points or automobile insurance eligibility points pursuant to section
26 of P.L.1990, c.8 (C.17:33B-14) be assessed against any person liable for a
summons issued under the provisions of this section.
���� f.���� A person liable for a
summons issued shall be subject to: (1) a fine of $100 for a first offense, and
(2) a fine of $250 for each subsequent offense.� The penalties shall be
enforced and recovered pursuant to the provisions of chapter 5 of Title 39 of
the Revised Statutes.� There shall be a rebuttable presumption that the
registered owner of the vehicle which was involved in the violation of this
section was the person who committed the act. Any person who suppresses, by way
of concealment or destruction, any evidence of a violation of this section or
who suppresses the identity of the violator shall be subject to a fine of $100.
���� g.��� For purposes of this
section, �school bus� means any vehicle equipped with a crossing arm, pursuant
to P.L.1996, c.96 (C.39:3B-1.1 et seq.).�
���� 2.��� Section 1 of P.L.1942,
c.192 (C.39:4-128.1) is amended to read as follows:�
���� 1.��� On highways having
roadways not divided by safety islands or physical traffic separation
installations, the driver of a vehicle approaching or overtaking a bus, which
is being used for the transportation of children to or from school or a summer
day camp or any school connected activity, or which is being used for the
transportation of a person who has a developmental disability, and which has
stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any child or a person who
has a developmental disability, shall stop such vehicle not less than 25 feet
from such school bus and keep such vehicle stationary until such child or
person who has a developmental disability has entered said bus or has alighted
and reached the side of such highway and until a flashing red light is no
longer exhibited by the bus; provided, such bus is designated as a school bus
by one sign on the front and one sign on the rear, with each letter on such
signs at least four inches in height.
���� On highways having dual or
multiple roadways separated by safety islands or physical traffic separation
installations, the driver of a vehicle overtaking a school bus, which has
stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any child or any person who
has a developmental disability, shall stop such vehicle not less than 25 feet
from such school bus and keep such vehicle stationary until such child or
person who has a developmental disability has entered said bus or has alighted
and reached the side of the highway and until a flashing red light is no longer
exhibited by the bus.
���� On highways having dual or
multiple roadways separated by safety islands or physical traffic separation
installations, the driver of a vehicle on another roadway approaching a school
bus, which has stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any child,
or any person who has a developmental disability shall reduce the speed of his
vehicle to not more than 10 miles per hour and shall not resume normal speed
until the vehicle has passed the bus and has passed any child who may have
alighted therefrom or be about to enter said bus.
���� For purposes of this section,
"highway" means the entire width between the boundary lines of every
way whether publicly or privately maintained when any part thereof is open to
the public for purposes of vehicular travel.
���� Whenever a school bus is
parked at the curb for the purpose of receiving children directly from a school
or a summer day camp or any school connected activity or discharging children
to enter a school, or a summer day camp or any school connected activity, which
is located on the same side of the street as that on which the bus is parked,
drivers of vehicles shall be permitted to pass said bus without stopping, but
at a speed not in excess of 10 miles per hour.
���� Whenever a school bus is
parked at the curb for the purpose of receiving or discharging a person who has
a developmental disability on the same side of the street as that on which the
bus is parked, drivers of vehicles shall be permitted to pass the bus without
stopping, but at a speed not in excess of 10 miles per hour.
���� The driver of a bus which is
being used for the transportation of children to or from school or a summer day
camp or any school connected activity, or for the transportation of a person
who has a developmental disability shall continue to exhibit a flashing red
light and shall not start his bus until every child who may have alighted
therefrom shall have reached a place of safety.
����
[
Any
]
Except as otherwise provided
in section 1 of P.L.��� , c.�� (C.������ ) (pending before the Legislature as
this bill), a
person who
[
shall
violate
]
violates
any provision of this act shall be subject to (1) a fine of not
less than
[
$100.00
]
$100
,
(2) imprisonment for not more than 15 days or community service for 15 days in
such form and on such terms as the court shall deem appropriate, (3) or both
for the first offense, and a fine not less than
[
$250.00
]
$250
, imprisonment for
not more than 15 days, or both for each subsequent offense.� The penalties
shall be enforced and recovered pursuant to the provisions of chapter 5 of
Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.� There shall be a rebuttable presumption that
the registered owner of the vehicle which was involved in the violation of this
section was the person who committed the act.� Any person who suppresses, by
way of concealment or destruction, any evidence of a violation of this section
or who suppresses the identity of the violator shall be subject to a fine of
$100.
���� The Chief Administrator of the
Motor Vehicle Commission may also revoke the license to drive a motor vehicle
of any person who shall have been guilty of such willful violation of any of
the provisions of this act as shall, in the discretion of the chief administrator,
justify such revocation, but the chief administrator shall, at all times, have
power to validate such a license which has been revoked, or to grant a new
license to any person whose license to drive a motor vehicle shall have been
revoked pursuant to this act.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.20, s.2)
���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of
enactment.�
STATEMENT
���� This bill permits a
municipality to use school bus video camera footage to assist in the
enforcement of section 1 of P.L.1942, c.192 (C.39:4-128.1), which prohibits
vehicles from passing a school bus while passengers are picked up or
discharged.�
���� The bill provides that in any
municipality in which recorded images from a school bus video camera are used
to assist in the enforcement of section 1 of P.L.1942, c.192 (C.39:4-128.1), a
law enforcement official of the municipality is to review the recorded images
produced by the video camera and issue a summons when it is deemed appropriate
within 90 days from the date on which the violation occurred.� The bill also
provides that if a law enforcement official does not issue a summons for a
violation within 90 days, all recorded images and information collected
pertaining to that alleged violation is required to be purged.�
���� Under the bill, a person
liable for a summons issued based upon images captured from a school bus video
camera would be subject to a fine of $100 for a first offense and $250 for each
subsequent offense.