No Empty Chair

Did you know that school zone speeding violation fines in New York State range from $90-$1,200? NYS law defines a school speed zone as a distance within 1,325 feet on a highway that passes a school building, entrance or exit of a school bordering the highway. The term “highway” refers to any highway, road, street, avenue, alley, public place, public driveway or any other public way. Violating the school speed zone can lead to the following fines:

1-10 mph over the speed limit = fine ranges from $90-$300

11-30 mph over the speed limit = fine ranges from $180-$600

31 mph and greater over the speed limit = fine ranges from $360-$1,200

Town and village surcharges = $93 

All other court surcharges = $88

Violating the school speed zone limits can lead to the following points on your driver’s license:

1-10 mph over the speed limit = 3 points

11-20 mph over the speed limit = 4 points

21-30 mph over the speed limit = 6 points

31-40 mph over the speed limit = 8 points

More than 40 mph over the speed limit = 11 points

The school zone speed limit in CCSD is 15 mph. The biggest safety tip a driver can take to ensure safety when driving in school zones is to SLOW DOWN. Children can be located anywhere in the area and in places hard to see. Please remember to drive cautiously and give yourself a good distance to suddenly, but safely, stop. Please also be aware of our school zones and observe speed limits. We can all try to keep our community members safe. More information can be found here.
 

New York State law requires all motor vehicle passengers ages eight and older to wear seat belts, regardless of seating position. Children under the age of four must ride in a car seat and children under the age of two must ride in a rear-facing car seat. The penalty for a seat belt or car seat violation is a fine of up to $50. If the violation is for a person under the age of 16, the driver receives a maximum fine of $100 and three driver violation points upon conviction.

When used correctly, wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of fatal injuries to front seat passenger car occupants by 45% and risk of moderate to critical injury by 50%. For those riding in the rear of vans and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) during a car crash, rear seat belts are 73% better at preventing fatalities. For more information on child safety seats or to schedule an appointment to have your child safety seats checked, please click here.

Surveys conducted by the New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT), in partnership with the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, show that approximately 50,000 motorists illegally pass school buses statewide each school day. NYS law says you must stop whether you are approaching the school bus from the front or overtaking it from the rear. You must also always stop when the school bus displays flashing red lights, even on divided and multilane highways and on school grounds.

Operation Safe Stop is an annual campaign to raise public awareness of the dangers of illegally passing a stopped school bus when its red lights are flashing and the arm is down. All traffic from both sides must stop at least 20 feet before a stopped bus on all roadways, including divided and multilane highways. Yellow lights mean the bus is going to stop, so you must slow down. Red lights mean students are getting on or off the bus, so you must stop.

Penalties per 1174a NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law:

1st Offense = fine of $250-$400, five license points and the possibility of 30 days in jail

​​​​​2nd Offense = fine of $600-$750 fine and up to 180 days in jail

3rd Offense or more = fine from $750-$1,000, a mandatory driver's license revocation and up to 180 days in jail

“Our drivers report incidents of cars passing our stopped buses on a regular basis,” says CCSD’s Director of Transportation Russ Carrasquillo. “It is so dangerous and a threat to our students’ safety. We ask everyone to please drive safely and stop when you see the flashing lights.”