RICHMOND, Va. -- When Glenn Davidson and Butch Earnheart received two separate $250 tickets each for allegedly driving past a Richmond Public Schools school bus with its stop sign out, a violation of Virginia law, they reached out to CBS 6, claiming they were unjustly ticketed.
The two are contractors and have worked on a project in the area of Richmond's Community High School for the past few years.
Almost every day, they drive near the school and often see buses parked outside of it, either with flashing lights on or off, depending on the day.
On two separate days in September, they each received two similar tickets for seemingly passing a school bus with its stop sign out, showing multiple camera angles from the bus capturing their vehicles passing by.
Their two tickets were time-stamped around the same time, around 4 p.m., though it's unclear if two separate bus cameras were used.
"Working around here for 2 and a half years, consistently, I’ve never seen anything like this," Davidson said.
Both Davidson and Earnheart claim multiple buses are normally lined up on Woodrow Avenue right beside the school, sometimes using flashing bright lights and sometimes not.
They believe one of the buses in the middle of the line may have had their stop sign out and the cameras activated, though they claim they could not see it, and no students or staff were loading or unloading.
"If you do see the arm sticking out, and they're in the process of loading, do you stop and wait 20 minutes for them to load the bus, or do you just kind of back up and go the other direction? What do you do?" Earnheart asked.
It's a scene they've seen time and time again, but neither of them has received a ticket until now.
"We weren't aware that we were doing something wrong," Earnheart said.
"I'm going very, very slow. I'm cautious, it's the end of the day. And that was pretty much it. So, to get this is a huge slap in the face," Davidson said.
Though they can appeal through "alertbus.com" or by phone, Davidson said he tried to talk with someone about his particular situation but got nowhere.
"Last week, and even this week, been on the phone for probably 20 minutes, still round and round. No one answers. No one does anything," Davidson said.
According to the language on their tickets, which are approved by a sworn Richmond Police Officer, if they appeal and are still found guilty, they will have to pay additional court fees, and their driving record may be impacted.
Davidson and Earnheart said the system is likely a deterrent for drivers who cannot take the time to go to court and contest their tickets.
"How many people have paid these thousands of dollars wrongly? And nobody's been there to help them and or say, 'Guess what? This is wrong?'" Davidson asked.
Multiple people reached out to CBS 6 claiming they had also been ticketed in similar situations after our initial story aired on October 9.
Susan Kennedy-Spain said she got one for driving past a line of school buses near Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, though a crossing guard waved her in that direction.
"I've never seen the arm up when those buses are sitting on the side of the road, and I've been by there a hundred times," Spain said. "I guess some of the buses have the arm thing out, even though they're not doing anything. But I got a ticket."
Spain said she went to court in early spring to contest the ticket after spending about a month waiting to hear back from the company that issued the ticket.
"It was 1:00 in the afternoon. The place was filled with people contesting bus tickets. That's why we were all there. And everyone had similar stories," Spain said.
Spain did not have representation when she went to court but explained her case to the judge after police showed a video of her passing the school bus.
"The crossing guard is the one that's directing traffic. So that's what's in the code. It says in the code that if a person of authority, like a crossing guard or a police officer, waves you through, then that kind of circumvents the bus and the arm. So, I got off, because of that," Spain said.
Richmond Police maintains a sworn officer reviews every ticket that's issued by "Bus Alert," the company that Richmond Public Schools says issues the tickets.
A police officer may not sign off on a ticket if the camera is malfunctioning if a school bus stop arm is activated because the bus is stopping at a railroad crossing, or if there is a glare that prevents an officer from seeing the full license plate of the car.
Money from the program goes to pay for the program, and a portion of it goes to RPS.
CBS 6 reached out to the school district to ask how much money the school has received from the program in the past year but has not heard back at this time.
CBS 6 also asked RPS if there are specific policies bus drivers, both staffed and substitute, must follow when utilizing the stop arm cameras, but has not heard back at this time.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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