Massachusetts school bus camera citations: what M.G.L. c. 90, §§ 14C to 14E and c. 40, § 71 say about school bus violation detection monitoring systems

This page quotes Chapter 399 of the Acts of 2024 of Massachusetts, “AN ACT CONCERNING THE SAFETY OF SCHOOL CHILDREN EMBARKING AND DISEMBARKING SCHOOL BUSES”. That Act added section 71 to chapter 40 of the General Laws of Massachusetts (M.G.L.) and sections 14C, 14D and 14E to chapter 90, on school bus violation detection monitoring systems, which are camera systems on school buses. This page also quotes the sentences of M.G.L. c. 90, § 14 on stopping for a school bus, on fines, and on license revocation. It covers school bus cameras only; it does not cover speed cameras or red light cameras. It does not apply any of this text to any notice. Confirm what your paper says.

US overview: What a mailed camera notice is. Contrast: What an NYC camera notice is · Three different California camera notices · Florida Notice of Violation vs Uniform Traffic Citation · Maryland school-zone speed monitoring vs SafeZones work-zone cameras · Colorado automated camera notices: CDOT Speed Enforcement vs local AVIS · Washington automated camera notices: local programs vs WSDOT work-zone cameras · Virginia automated camera notices: photo-speed, red light, and school-bus cameras · Tennessee automated camera notices: unmanned ASE, school-zone / S-curve speed, and school-bus cameras · Pennsylvania automated camera notices: red light, work-zone speed, Philadelphia speed, and school-bus cameras · Illinois automated camera notices: red light, Chicago safety-zone speed, school-bus stop-arm, and railroad-crossing cameras, plus state work-zone speed camera citations · New Mexico city camera notices: Albuquerque ASE and Santa Fe STOP speed cameras · Iowa automated speed camera citations: Iowa DOT-permitted fixed and mobile systems under Iowa Code chapter 321P · Texas red-light camera and city speed camera prohibitions: what Transportation Code chapter 707 and § 542.2035 say · Alabama camera notices: the state work-zone speed camera pilot under Act 2026-475 and city red-light camera local acts · Louisiana camera citations: what R.S. 32:43 to 32:49 say about school-zone speed cameras and red light cameras · Oregon camera citations: what ORS 810.434 to 810.444 say about city photo red light, city photo radar, and highway work-zone photo radar · Rhode Island camera citations: what chapters 31-41.2 and 31-41.3 say about red light cameras and school-zone speed cameras · North Carolina camera citations: what G.S. 160A-300.1, 160A-300.4 and 153A-246.1 say about red light cameras and school-zone speed cameras · South Carolina camera citations: what S.C. Code §§ 56-7-35, 56-5-710(B) and 56-5-70(E) say about citations based on photographic evidence · Minnesota camera citations: what Minn. Stat. §§ 169.147, 169.14 and 169.06 say about the traffic safety camera pilot program · Delaware camera citations: what 21 Del. C. §§ 4101(d) and 4170A say about red light cameras and electronic speed monitoring · Indiana camera citations: what IC 8-23-32 says about the worksite speed control pilot program · Hawaii camera citations: what HRS chapters 291J and 291L say about photo red light imaging detector systems and automated speed enforcement systems.

Another page quotes M.G.L. c. 90, §§ 17, 17C, 18 and 20 and chapter 90C, on speed rules, fines, surcharges, and scheduled assessments and hearings: What a Massachusetts speeding ticket is.

The Massachusetts Legislature publishes Chapter 399 of the Acts of 2024 at https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2024/Chapter399 and the General Laws sections at the addresses listed under Sources below. When this page was checked on 3 Nov 2026, those malegislature.gov pages could be read but could not be downloaded as files. Sections 71, 14C, 14D and 14E are quoted from a copy of the Chapter 399 page saved by the Internet Archive on May 29, 2026, at https://web.archive.org/web/20260529142613/https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2024/Chapter399, as Chapter 399 enacted them; that copy ends “Approved, January 10, 2025.” Section 14 is quoted from a copy of its section page saved by the Internet Archive on October 16, 2026, at https://web.archive.org/web/20261016095502/https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter90/Section14. The quoted text is the same as the text the General Laws section pages showed on 3 Nov 2026, apart from the style of apostrophes and quotation marks.

What M.G.L. c. 40, § 71 says about a city or town that accepts it

M.G.L. c. 40, § 71(b): “A city or town that accepts this section may install and operate a school bus violation detection monitoring system on a school bus to enforce violations pursuant to sections 14 and 14C of chapter 90. Any such system shall be used solely to monitor and detect violations of motor vehicle operators who overtake or fail to stop for a school bus in violation of said section 14 of said chapter 90.”

M.G.L. c. 40, § 71(c)(3): “An agreement to provide a school bus violation detection monitoring system under this section shall only become effective after consent by the applicable district, through a vote of a majority of its governing school committee.”

That is the statute’s statement. This page quotes subsection (b) and paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of section 71. Section 71 has other text, subsection (a), with definitions, and paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (c), on agreements with a vendor or manufacturer and payments to them, that this page does not cover. This page does not say which cities or towns have accepted section 71, or whether a particular school bus has a system.

What M.G.L. c. 90, § 14C says about school bus violation detection monitoring systems

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14C(a) defines a school bus violation detection monitoring system as “a camera system that monitors and detects a motor vehicle overtaking or passing a school bus when the bus is stopped and displaying front and rear alternating flashing red signal lights, as provided in section 7B, when the bus has been stopped to allow pupils to alight from or board the bus. A school bus violation detection monitoring system shall meet the requirements described in subsection (c).”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14C(b)(1): “A city or town that accepts section 71 of chapter 40 may install and operate a school bus violation detection monitoring system on a school bus to enforce violations by an operator of a motor vehicle who overtakes or fails to stop their vehicle for a school bus when required to do so pursuant to section 14.”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14C(b)(2): “A school bus with a school bus violation detection monitoring system shall post signage indicating that such system is in use on such bus. The signage shall remain on each such school bus at all times while a school bus violation detection monitoring system is in operation.”

That is the statute’s statement. Section 14C has other text, including other definitions in subsection (a), subsection (c), on evidence files and recorded images, and subsection (d), on access to, destruction of, and reports on recorded images and other information, that this page does not cover. This page does not quote section 7B of chapter 90, which subsection (a) names.

What M.G.L. c. 90, § 14D says about review by a law enforcement officer

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14D(a)(1): “An evidence file of an alleged violation under section 14C shall be forwarded to a law enforcement officer in the jurisdiction who is trained to observe and detect a violation of section 14.”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14D(a)(2): “A law enforcement officer, or law enforcement officer’s approved technician, shall review the video images and determine whether a violation occurred.”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14D(a)(3): “The officer shall issue a citation if satisfied that a violation of section 14 was committed and the vehicle committing the violation can be identified from its registration plate.”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14D(b): “A certificate, or a facsimile thereof, sworn to or affirmed by a police officer or other law enforcement officer authorized to issue motor vehicle citations for violations of traffic laws stating that based upon inspection of the evidence file produced by a school bus violation detection monitoring system the vehicle was in violation of section 14 shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein.”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14D(c): “Any recorded video images or still photographic images produced by a school bus violation detection monitoring system evidencing a violation of section 14 shall be available for inspection in any proceeding to adjudicate the liability for the violation adopted under this section.”

That is the statute’s statement. This page does not say how that statement applies to a particular citation, license, driving record, or insurance policy. This page quotes all of section 14D.

What M.G.L. c. 90, § 14E says about the registered owner, the driving record, and fines

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14E(a): “In all actions of civil traffic violations based on evidence obtained from a school bus violation detection monitoring system under section 14C, the registered owner of the motor vehicle shall be primarily responsible except as otherwise provided in this section.”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14E(b): “If the registered owner of a vehicle operated in violation of section 14 was not the operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation, the registered owner of the vehicle shall: (i) assume liability for the violation by paying the fine; (ii) upon written receipt of the citation, provide the issuing authority within 30 days of the date of issuance of the citation with the name, address and registration plate number of the operator of the vehicle who was responsible along with a signed affidavit acknowledging such information and attesting to its veracity; or (iii) defend the violation pursuant to the procedures established for traffic violations under this chapter.”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14E(c): “A corporation that owns or leases a vehicle identified as being in violation of section 14 by a school bus violation detection monitoring system under this section shall be primarily responsible for such violation even if a person who normally operates the vehicle for the corporation denies that such person was operating the vehicle at the time of the violation; provided, that no violation entry shall be made on the person’s driving record.”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14E(d)(1): “A penalty imposed for a violation of this section shall not be considered a criminal conviction and shall not be considered a moving violation of the motor vehicle laws for the purpose of determining surcharges on motor vehicle premiums pursuant to section 113B of chapter 175; provided, however, that the violation shall be noted on the registered owner or operator’s driving record.”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14E(d)(2): “The fines pursuant to section 14 for a failure to stop for a school bus shall apply to a violation of said section 14 whether the violation is detected through the use of a school bus violation detection monitoring system or by a police officer on scene who issues a written citation to the operator of the motor vehicle. Pursuant to section 2 of chapter 280, all fines imposed for a violation of section 14 that is detected by a school bus violation detection monitoring system or by a police officer at the scene who cites the operator in hand shall be paid to the treasury of the city or town where the offense was committed.”

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14E(e): “Upon the determination of a violation through the use of a school bus violation detection monitoring system, the chief of police of the city or town, or any designee of the chief, shall issue the owner of the vehicle a citation pursuant to chapter 90C.”

That is the statute’s statement. This page does not say how that statement applies to a particular citation, license, driving record, or insurance policy. This page quotes all of section 14E. This page does not quote section 113B of chapter 175, section 2 of chapter 280, or chapter 90C, which section 14E names.

What M.G.L. c. 90, § 14 says about stopping for a school bus and fines

M.G.L. c. 90, § 14: “When approaching a vehicle which displays a sign bearing the words ''SCHOOL BUS'' and which is equipped with front and rear alternating flashing red signal lamps which are flashing, as provided in section seven B, and which has been stopped to allow pupils to alight from or board the same, a person operating a motor vehicle or trackless trolley shall, except when approaching from the opposite direction on a divided highway, bring his vehicle or trackless trolley to a full stop before reaching said school bus and shall not thereafter proceed until the warning signals are deactivated, unless directed to the contrary by a police officer duly authorized to control the movement of traffic.”

§ 14 continues: “Any person who violates the preceding sentence shall be punished by a fine of not less than $250; and for a second offense by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000; and for a third or subsequent offense by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,000.”

§ 14 continues: “A second conviction or third or subsequent conviction as set forth in the preceding sentence shall be reported forthwith by the court or magistrate to the registrar who shall revoke immediately the license or right to operate of the person so convicted and no appeal, motion for a new trial or exceptions, shall operate to stay the revocation of the license or right to operate; provided, however, that no license or right to operate shall be issued by the registrar to any person convicted of a second such offense until 6 months after the date of revocation following said conviction or to any person convicted of a third or subsequent such offense until 1 year after the date of revocation following said conviction; and provided, further, that if the prosecution against such person has terminated in his favor the registrar shall forthwith reinstate his license or right to operate.”

That is the statute’s statement. Section 14E(d)(2), quoted above, names the fines of section 14. This page does not say which offense or amount applies to a particular citation, or whether the license revocation sentence applies to a citation issued under section 14E. This page does not add any other amount to these figures and does not total any amount. Section 14 has other sentences and paragraphs, on other precautions for the safety of other travelers, that this page does not cover. Read any amount shown on your citation.

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Sources retrieved or read 3 Nov 2026:

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Information on this page was last checked against official sources on November 3, 2026.