Letter to the editor: Repeal the stop-arm camera law
Pennsylvania should repeal the stop-arm camera law, which is Act 19 of 2023. TV station WPXI in Pittsburgh has been running many stories by Rick Earle and Amy Hudak. Stop-arm cameras are supposedly to keep people from illegally passing school buses.
Reports have many people claiming that tickets were issued in error. District judges were dismissing almost all of the tickets when people went to court. People were due refunds for exorbitant filing fees, but had a hard time getting them. The massive amount of money being made from the tickets was also looked into. The stories cited judges, lawyers, people who got the tickets, etc.
We were told that numerous safeguards were in place to ensure that everything was properly set up and calibrated, that multiple reviews would occur, etc. If that happened, then why did all these supposedly erroneous tickets go out? This is so bad that one reporter asked Governor Shapiro if the entire stop-arm camera law should be repealed.
If this were truly about safety, then schools would do things to stop illegal passing. One school in Pennsylvania is testing a four-foot strip with bright red LED lights that comes out when the bus is stopped, in order to block the next lane. The company said it prevents up to 95 percent of illegal passes. You have to stop, or your car will hit the device. This device costs money, while cameras bring in money.
End stop-arm cameras in Pennsylvania along with all other types of automated enforcement.
James Sikorski Jr.
Wapwallopen
