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In 2020 the county issued 36 citations per active camera, or 50,698 citations total. In 2025 the county issued 34 citations per camera, or 51,779 total. Wow.
by PyWoody 6mo ago
In 2020 the county issued 36 citations per active camera, or 50,698 citations total. In 2025 the county issued 34 citations per camera, or 51,779 total.
Wow. That is a mind-boggling number of citations.
Montgomery County’s steady stream of stop-arm violations stems largely from one problem: Drivers seem unsure or unaware of what to do when buses are traveling in the opposite lane. The school bus stop at 1400 East-West Highway exemplifies drivers’ confusion, says Moon, the state delegate, standing on the side of the road as traffic whooshes by. It’s right off the highway’s intersection with Colesville Road, a seven-lane thoroughfare with raised medians. In Maryland, drivers traveling in the opposite direction of buses are not required to stop if the roadway is separated by a physical median.
But East-West Highway has two turn lanes, or what Moon calls “a paint illusion,” in which “a median is suggested.” Here, without a true median, it’s illegal to pass the stopped bus, regardless of what lane you’re in, but it’s easy to miss the difference. Many of Montgomery County’s most ticketed stops have these false medians, in addition to wide, congested roads and four-way intersections that Moon says can make it hard for drivers to spot buses stopped across several lanes of traffic. In fiscal year 2025 some 89% of all stop-arm tickets issued at the county’s top-10 citation locations were for opposite-lane violations. “You’re dealing with a very congested urban environment with lots of changes,” Moon says. “There’s just infinite numbers of drivers on these commuter thoroughfares to replenish the people that are getting the first wave of tickets.”
Yeah, that makes more sense.
- kaibee 6mo agohttps://www.google.com/maps/@40.2243986,-75.3069926,3a,75y,141.73h,76.85t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sFM3KrtUFmzqCC9yYa6vt1w!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D13.153539722901982%26panoid%3DFM3KrtUFmzqCC9yYa6vt1w%26yaw%3D141.72567240898854!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D https://www.google.com/maps/@40.2243986,-75.3069926,3a,75y,1... I got one of these tickets here. The bus was obscured until it was already stopped, by a truck to my left. I was in the furthest possible lane. Very cool ~$380. (For further context, because like in principle I agree.) Oh and for fun, if you follow that sidewalk down a bit, you get to see this: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.2281192,-75.3123541,3a,75y,78.03h,57.63t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s1Pxjdaj_-4PP7IMGVoAb1w!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D32.37224413566168%26panoid%3D1Pxjdaj_-4PP7IMGVoAb1w%26yaw%3D78.03208764577394!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D https://www.google.com/maps/@40.2281192,-75.3123541,3a,75y,7... The sidewalk... just... ends because I guess crossing a bridge wasn't in scope?? and I'd pretty regularly see people and kids walking across it to get to the strip mall on the other side.
- evanelias 6mo agoOh how random, that's near where I grew up, and almost certainly in the school district I went to. As for why the sidewalk abruptly ends, normally it's due to a border between municipalities: some of the municipalities in the area don't have sidewalks at all, and confusingly several of them have Lansdale postal addresses despite not actually being part of Lansdale proper (which does have sidewalks). But in this specific case I think it's Upper Gwynedd Township on both sides of the bridge, so who knows. I haven't lived there in decades, but sorry about your ticket in any case! One other ironic wrinkle: iirc students have to walk to school if there's a route under 1 mile long with continuous sidewalk coverage. And that spot where you got ticketed is right about a mile from the high school. So if that bridge actually had sidewalks, maybe there would be no need for a bus stop in that location where you got the ticket.
- bix6 6mo agoYou’d think they’d come up with a better system for a 7 lane highway but tickets for everyone instead!
- tstrimple 6mo agoThis is the "better" system for the folks who implemented it. More fines, more revenue.
- rtkwe 6mo agoAlso there being only 3 collisions since the program started in 2017. There are loads of violations but not many accidents. I'd wager most of the violations happen on the sort of road they mention, 4+ lanes maybe even with a turn lane, where kids are always dropped off on their side of the street so there's not actually kids trying to cross the opposing lanes anyways. [0] From the pictures I'm not entirely sure what the NC laws would say about this, probably stop, but I really doubt they're sending kids across the street there. [0] In my state with 2+ lanes and a center turn you're not required to stop for example: https://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/license-id/driver-licenses/school-bus/Documents/school-bus-stop-law-card.pdf https://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/license-id/driver-licenses/school-...