HAMBURG, N.Y. — An estimated 50,000 motor vehicles illegally pass school buses daily in New York.
Thursday is the annual Operation Safe Stop, a statewide initiative to remind drivers to stop and think before putting the lives of children in danger.
“I've been behind a driver and they've gone right by us when he was dropping off at daycares,” said Brittany Smith, director of safety and compliance at Fisher Bus Service.
Smith says that the driver passed not one, but two school buses.
“If there's a bus in front of us or bus behind us, within that 50 feet, both buses have to have their lights on,” Smith explained.
At the start of the school year, in a situation like this, a driver passed the door side of a bus as a child was getting off. The bus aid grabbed the child’s backpack.
“Some people just don’t care and it’s sad,” Smith said.
And it’s not like a bus coming to a stop is a surprise. Smith says they turn on their yellow lights at 300 feet, more if it’s a busy road, before a stop. It’s your signal to slow down.
Lindsey Nyitrai, director of operations at Fisher Bus, said her drivers have reported "about 30" incidents this school year. They’ve been taking extra steps each day as the issue persists.
“We started making more mirror checks,” Nyitrai said. “Make sure the mirrors are where they're supposed to be.”
Orchard Park Police Chief Patrick Fitzgerald says it’s a combination of people not paying attention.
“Often, what we see is the vehicle coming at the school bus and just sailing right on by,” he recalled.
Or they did nothing wrong.
“They're looking to debate whether lights were really flashing or not flashing, or whether the bus was stopped and loading or whether it was just slowing down,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald says technology is increasingly on their side with security cameras on homes and stop-arm cameras on school buses. The Rochester City School District approved a stop-arm camera program last month.
“It's the safety of our children that's most important,” said James Patterson, commissioner with the RCSD.
The city of Buffalo’s program went live in October. Since then, Bus Patrol says more than 27,000 violations have been issued — more than 5,000 since Jan. 1. Syracuse will launch its program in May.
“[They will be on] 213 buses,” said Conor Muldoon, chief operating officer for the city of Syracuse.
Albany County has six school districts in its program. A seventh is coming online.
“How some kid hasn't been wiped out yet and God forbid, killed, is amazing when you watch this,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy.
Sometimes a driver passes a bus, missing a child by inches. From Sept. 2024 to Feb. 2025, there were thousands of violations.
"[There were] 9774 violations, which is so alarming,” McCoy said.
McCoy says the hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines is money he wishes the county didn’t have. But they’re using it to pay for safety like school resource officers and even driver's education lessons.
“I wish this program went away tomorrow," said McCoy. "And unfortunately, you see a drop, and then it increases.”
If you’re caught, fines start at $250 and go up in $25 increments over 18 months.
Smith says she has seen drivers chase after those who have passed a bus to get their license plate number. While that is appreciated, officials remind you that your safety is paramount.
