New Jersey school buses commonly carry interior cameras to monitor students and drivers, but exterior stop-arm cameras that catch motorists illegally passing a stopped bus are only in use in certain municipalities and pilot programs. There is no statewide law requiring either type on every bus, and whether your child’s bus has a camera depends on what the local district or municipality has chosen to install. Several bills in the legislature would change that.
What Cameras Are on New Jersey School Buses Today
Interior cameras are the most widespread. Districts install them to monitor student behavior, document incidents like bullying or injuries, and review driver conduct. They typically record continuously while the bus is in service and store footage for a set period before it’s overwritten.
Exterior stop-arm cameras are a different story. These mount near the swing-out stop arm or along the side of the bus and record vehicles that pass illegally while students are loading or unloading. Some New Jersey municipalities have adopted stop-arm camera programs through contracts with private vendors, but participation is voluntary and far from universal. Without a statewide mandate, whether an exterior camera is watching the road next to your child’s bus comes down to local choice and local funding.
What Drivers Must Do When a School Bus Stops
New Jersey law requires you to stop at least 25 feet from any school bus that has activated its flashing red lights to pick up or drop off students. You must stay stopped until every student has boarded or reached the side of the road and the red lights shut off.1Justia. New Jersey Code 39-4-128.1 – School Buses Stopped for Children, Certain Disabled Persons, Duty of Motorists, Bus Driver; Violations, Penalties This applies to traffic approaching from either direction on an undivided road.
The rule changes on divided highways. If you’re traveling the same direction as the bus on a road with a median, raised island, or other physical barrier, you still must stop at least 25 feet away. If you’re on the opposite side of a divided highway, you don’t have to stop completely, but you must slow to no more than 10 miles per hour and hold that speed until you’ve passed the bus and any students nearby.1Justia. New Jersey Code 39-4-128.1 – School Buses Stopped for Children, Certain Disabled Persons, Duty of Motorists, Bus Driver; Violations, Penalties The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission also advises drivers never to pass a bus when its stop arm is extended, and notes that passing a bus stopped in front of a school is allowed from either direction only at 10 mph or less.2NJ MVC. Drive Safely Near Buses
One technical point matters here. The statute keys the obligation to the flashing red lights, not the stop arm itself. The stop arm reinforces the signal, but the flashing reds are what legally create your duty to stop.
Penalties for Illegally Passing a Stopped School Bus
Passing a stopped school bus carries real consequences. Penalties escalate after the first offense:
- First offense: a fine of at least $100, up to 15 days in jail or 15 days of community service, or both the fine and jail or community service.
- Subsequent offenses: a fine of at least $250, up to 15 days in jail, or both.
These are statutory minimums, and a court can impose higher fines at its discretion.1Justia. New Jersey Code 39-4-128.1 – School Buses Stopped for Children, Certain Disabled Persons, Duty of Motorists, Bus Driver; Violations, Penalties
A conviction also adds five motor vehicle points to your driving record.3NJ MVC. NJ Points Schedule Five points from a single violation puts you more than halfway to the threshold where the MVC starts imposing surcharges, and the points typically affect your insurance rates for years.
Pending Bills on Stop-Arm Cameras
Lawmakers have introduced multiple bills over the past two legislative sessions to authorize camera-based enforcement of school bus passing violations. None have been signed into law, but the pattern of reintroduction is clear.
The most prominent current effort is S1378 and its companion A3887 in the 2026–2027 session. The bill would let municipalities and school districts contract with private vendors to install, operate, and maintain stop-arm camera systems on Type I and Type II school buses.4BillTrack50. New Jersey S1378 – Authorizes Use of School Bus Monitoring Systems It would impose a $300 civil penalty on drivers whose violations are captured by the camera system.5NJ Legislature. Bill A3887 Because that penalty would be civil rather than a moving violation, it would carry no license points. The ticket would go to the vehicle’s registered owner based on the plate, much like red-light camera tickets.
An earlier bill, S2624 in the 2024–2025 session, would have allowed municipalities to use school bus video footage to ticket drivers who illegally pass a bus. That bill was referred to the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee and did not advance.6LegiScan. New Jersey Senate Bill 2624 – Allows Municipality to Use School Bus Video Footage to Ticket Driver for Illegally Passing School Bus
If a bill like S1378 becomes law, two enforcement tracks will exist in parallel. An officer who personally witnesses you passing a stopped bus can still bring the current criminal penalties: a minimum $100 fine, possible jail time, and five points. A camera-generated ticket would be a flat $300 civil fine with no points, mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner.
A Separate Bill for Buses Serving Students With Disabilities
S3858 takes a different approach. Rather than catching outside drivers, it focuses on what happens inside the bus. It would require every school bus transporting students with disabilities to be equipped with an interior video camera, GPS tracking that reports location and speed in real time, and two-way communications equipment such as a cell phone.7NJ Legislature. Senate No. 3858
The bill sets a 180-day minimum retention period for all video footage and GPS data collected under these requirements.7NJ Legislature. Senate No. 3858 The Senate Education Committee favorably reported the bill in March 2025. It has not been signed into law.
Can Parents See the Footage From Interior Cameras?
Interior cameras raise privacy questions, especially for parents who want to know who can view footage of their child. Federal law provides some structure through the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.
Under FERPA, a video qualifies as an “education record” when it is directly related to a student and maintained by the school or someone acting on the school’s behalf. The U.S. Department of Education has specifically noted that school bus surveillance footage can meet this definition. Footage of two students fighting on a bus that the school uses for discipline, for example, would be the education record of both students involved.8U.S. Department of Education. FAQs on Photos and Videos Under FERPA
If bus footage is an education record, parents have the right to inspect and review it, or at least be told what it contains. The school is not required to provide a copy, but it must let parents view it. When footage shows multiple students, the school should try to redact portions involving other children before showing it. If redaction would destroy the meaning of the recording, the parent still has the right to see the full video.8U.S. Department of Education. FAQs on Photos and Videos Under FERPA
One exception: footage created and maintained by a law enforcement unit within the school system specifically for law enforcement purposes falls outside FERPA. If that same footage gets shared with school administrators for disciplinary purposes, the shared copy becomes an education record again and FERPA protections apply. Exterior stop-arm camera footage sits further from FERPA concerns, since those cameras capture other vehicles and license plates rather than students inside the bus.