Letter to the editor: Illegal school-bus passing

Regarding the article “Traffic citations in school zones surge in Allegheny County” (Dec. 23, TribLIVE): Many school zones are not properly signed and lack flashing lights. You cannot read the signs unless you stop, and the flashing lights go off at all hours, when there is no school.

Act 159 of 2018, allowing stop-arm cameras, may not be legal. Automated cameras allow a vehicle owner to be cited with a criminal violation for illegal school bus passing. The penalty is a fine, points and license suspension. The bill assumes the vehicle owner was driving, or requires proof that the owner was not driving. How do you prove you were not driving a few months later? It also limits allowed defenses. Under the American legal system, for a criminal moving violation, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt who was driving, that a violation was committed and allow any defenses. You need not prove innocence in America; they must prove you guilty. This law fails that basic test.

If you ask the judge to throw out the ticket, he/she should. Say the law does not seem valid. Even if the law is allowed, the prosecution probably cannot prove who was driving.

The bill does not require a minimum flashing yellow duration or any form of best-practice engineering to ensure that only intentional violators are ticketed.

Illegal passing is highly exaggerated, per National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. A school can install stop-arm extenders to block the next lane and be more visible, if any issues.

James Sikorski Jr.

Wapwallopen

The writer is Pennsylvania advocate for the National Motorists Association (www.motorists.org).