School buses, and drunk driving

I had posted recently about the school bus traffic arm violations.  And how the company Buspatrol, ASD and the Allentown police department generate money from this and that it seems like this is a money generator not a safety issue.

Chief Roca has stated the focus should be on safety not revenue. He is 💯 correct.

Roca spoke to Lehighvalleynews in which he gave his opinion as well as possible solutions to the problem. 

Roca stated he would support a public dashboard, that, "would likely include only month-to-month data, not real-time data, but even that level of detail would represent a significant change for a system that has operated largely out of public view."

Okay Chief, that's a start.

The data would include the notice of violations issued (approved/not approved), the number and monetary amount of fines and penalties collected each month, as well as the number of school buses installed with the BusPatrol system — data already required to be submitted to the Allentown School District each month based on its contract with BusPatrol.

Heres the skeptism in my opinion that Roca tried to explain. As I previously wrote about.

From September 2024 through October 2025, Allentown police approved 8,598 citations, or roughly 96% of all alleged violations captured by bus cameras. That proportion is significantly higher than in neighboring school districts.

The program generated nearly $640,000 in fines in Allentown during that period. This shows how much people like wasting their money.

Here is my concern.

The citation approval data contrasts sharply with Salisbury, which approved 42% of violations in a 13-month period; Bethlehem approved 58%; Easton, 76%; and Wilson, 72%.

Roca attributed the city’s low rejection rate to what he described as thousands of “clear-cut” violations. I find it hard to believe tho that Allentown has only a 4% rejection rate in comparison to other departments.  But I could be wrong, just seems really high.

Roca stated being unaware or ignorant of the law does not excuse passing a school bus with its stop arm deployed. This is true. Just because someone is an ignorant moron who doesnt know the laws doesn't give them a pass when they violate it.

 

Roca backed up his high violation rate citing the fact his officers are only doing what they were trained to do. (I guess other departments officers arent as trained as Allentowns, or they arent grinches and have a heart) So if they see a violation then that person gets cited.  I believe his officers are Not out to get anyone however as stated it is really odd that Allentown's violation rate is way higher than other departments. 

Could Allentown just have areas that generate a high number of clear cut violations such as Hanover Ave in the 600blk? I doubt it.  Probably because its a race way. I have mentioned speed bumps would easily slow traffic down and help that area.  But no one wants to listen.

Despite the persistent pattern of violations, Roca acknowledged No coordinated traffic engineering review, sign evaluation or targeted public education campaign has been launched at the hotspot directly because of school bus camera violations. Why not? 

This statement doesnt seem to align with a little plan called "Safes Streets for All" designed by the mayor to eliminate all serious injuries and traffic deaths by 2030.  Isn't it just a matter of time until a kid gets hit by a car on Hanover Ave??  Why is the city waiting? Im curious, why isnt the Chief trying to fix this problem??  He wants to make a dashboard, but that wont actually solve the problem will it?

Wasn't someone just run over and killed by a vehicle this past weekend?  Then another hit by a car later? 

Roca said driver behavior is a core problem.

I agree that drivers these days including myself are way too distracted.  They are in a rush, on their phones, blasting music and who knows what else.  We are basically causing our demise. 

“A transparency dashboard of some sort where people can actually see, hey, where is this happening? That'd be an interesting thing for people to know, because … we are looking at those evidence packages with professional seriousness, and we are looking at the resources from what we can see, and making that determination if it is a violation or if it isn't."

I have a great idea Chief.  Why not put up these up online, where people can view the violations and vote on them. People can sign up and be randomly given an incident to review and they decide.  Ultimately, an officer would have the final say, but it would make the system transparent and fun. An officer could later explain why they decided the person was in violation or not.  Not every case obviously, because you have 8,000 violations a year. The results could be posted on Facebook. Or just post the videos on Facebook and embarass that person. That is how you build transparency and community trust at the same time.

Part 2

Im sorry I was going to just do this bus stop sign post and then this article about Blue Zones popped up.

The article on Lehigh valley News starts out by saying Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca has seen the faces.

He has seen the victims and their family members whose lives were changed or ended when they or someone else drove drunk or chemically impaired.

Im sorry to the writer of that article but does he realize per Roca's Linkedin account (I dont know of its still up, but I read it) says he was only a patrolman for 3 months. I really dont think he saw that many faces on patrol. I just wanted to point that out. Because often Chief Roca makes himself out to be this cops cop, but thats definitely not the reality.

The Blue Zones Project-is about imploring people not to drive drunk, particularly during the coming holiday season. A good cause but isnt this obvious?

This Blue Zone project is just that a project. Everyone knows you shouldnt drink and drive. 

Blue Zones uses an evidence-based approach to create a healthier environment in places where people live, work and play by making policy and environmental changes, with the goal of improving well-being, reducing health care costs and boosting the local economy. Has anyone ever heard of BlueZones before? I seriously dont understand how Blue Zones does anything just mentioned or ever heard of this before.

“We’re kicking off this campaign with Allentown to encourage moderate alcohol consumption and safe driving during the holiday seasons,” said Brooke Griffiths, Blue Zones-Allentown executive director. 

So just drink moderately, which I think would put you over the legal limit? Got it tho. 6 pack it is.

“This is just a reminder going into the holidays.” Just not the rest of the year? Got it. 

The City of Allentown reports 261 DUI arrests this year and 121 crashes involving DUI, 78% of which involved alcohol. 261 arrests is super low for a city of this size. And you cant tell me there arent impaired drivers all around. Maybe the cops should step up their traffic stops vs sleep.

I get the whole you shouldnt drink and drive campaign. Its been around for years.  Sadly, its the risk you take when you drive anymore.