School bus camera appeals will soon start rolling like the cameras are

FLORIDA — As students gear up to go back to campus, school bus cameras are about to start rolling again.

And with them the $225 citations that are being mailed to drivers who are caught on a camera illegally passing a bus with its stop arm deployed.

Karen Coring received a citation in Hillsborough County back in December.

WATCH I-Team Reporter Katie LaGrone's full report

“I don’t know why I got that ticket,” she told us in February.

Lars Larson got his just a few months later.

“I am clearly past the driver of the bus when the light comes up,” he told us in February while reviewing with us the video attached to his violation.

Coring and Larson believe they were unfairly fined but both have been waiting months to contest their citations.

But nearly a year after Florida’s new school bus camera program was rolled out without a way for drivers to appeal their fine, we’ve learned that’s finally about to change.

In Hillsborough County, about 3,000 drivers who have chosen to contest their violations, will be able to make their case beginning August 18 during a virtual hearing with an administrative law judge.

While in Miami Dade and Polk counties, which also equipped its school buses with cameras, the appeals process is still being finalized. Until that process is up and running, both counties have suspended its school bus cameras.

Florida’s new school bus camera program began with the intent to keep Florida students safe.

But after drivers came forward with concerns about being unfairly ticketed and not having a chance to challenge those citations, the for-profit cameras quickly fueled controversy and suspicion.

“100% it’s a money grab,” Larson told us in the winter.

“I felt like it was really strong-arm robbery,” Cleo Davis told us after he was fined twice in Polk County for passing a school bus that had stopped near train tracks. Davis thought the bus was stopping because of the tracks.

Since February, we’ve shared their stories and the stories of other drivers who believe they were unfairly cited after, they believe the cameras, wrongly captured them passing a school bus.

In Miami Dade, the local sheriff paused its bus cameras over so many drivers came forward with concerns about wrongly issued tickets and their lack of due process in place for them to fight back.

In Polk County, we discovered drivers who wanted to appeal their citation had to wait until the $225 violation became a $329 uniform traffic citation, which is subject to stiffer penalties.

“It’s crazy,” Davis told us after tried to appeal his violation and lost.

After our reporting, lawmakers revised the law to give local governments and school districts the authority to manage the appeals process.

“Of course, want to thank you Katie for shining a light on the ways that the law could be improved,” said Steve Randazzo of BusPatrol, the camera vendor that operates bus cameras in Hillsborough and Miami Dade counties.

When asked why it took a change in state law to get the appeals process going, Randazzoo responded, “things in government sometimes take a little bit slower than we all would like.”

According to BusPatrol, since the cameras started rolling last school year, nearly 73,000 violations have been issued in Hillsborough County, and more than 202,000 violations were issued in Miami Dade.

Paid violations have generated a total of more than $40 million in the two counties. BusPatrol collects 70% of each paid fine.

The rest of the money is reinvested into student safety initiatives, according to state statute.

Randazzo said they are already seeing driver behavior change around school buses. About 96% of drivers ticketed in Hillsborough County have not received another one, he said.

But drivers who were fined and chose to contest their violation are still waiting to prove their innocence.

“I still have the ticket over my head, and I want to know was I wrong or was I right," Coring said.