A 3887 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Authorizes use of school bus monitoring systems; establishes certain enforcement procedures and penalties for certain violations captured by school bus monitoring systems.

This bill requires drivers to stop at least 25 feet from school buses loading/unloading children or individuals with developmental disabilities on undivided highways, and to slow to 10 mph on divided highways. It establishes that violations captured by school bus monitoring systems (like cameras) will result in a $300 civil penalty instead of criminal charges or license points. The law directly affects drivers near school buses, school bus operators, and enforcement agencies. Key provisions include standardized stopping distances, speed limits for divided highways, and shifting penalties for monitored violations to a civil fine system. This changes enforcement by prioritizing evidence from monitoring systems to reduce penalties for documented violations.

Issues: ✓ Transportation

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Feb 19, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Technical Review Of Prefiled Bill → Introduced · 5 edits · Jan 13, 2026

MODERATE

The bill moved from a technical review stage to formal introduction status. Assemblywoman Andrea Katz was removed as a sponsor and the co-sponsor list was significantly shortened. A detailed legislative STATEMENT section was added at the end of the bill, providing an explanatory overview of the school bus camera enforcement system including specific penalties ($300 civil penalty for camera-captured violations), revenue distribution to municipalities and school districts, data retention limits (120 days post-penalty, 365 days if no summons), and privacy protections. The synopsis was simplified to remove explicit reference to enforcement procedures and penalties.

SCOPE

Assemblywoman Andrea Katz (District 37, Bergen) was removed as a sponsor of the bill.

The co-sponsor list was significantly reduced, removing numerous Assembly members including Bagolie, Park, Reynolds-Jackson, Brennan, Scharfenberger, Rowan, Calabrese, Miller, Angelozzi, Donlon, Peterpaul, Verrelli, Onyema, Schnall, Kearney, Stewart, S.Kean, Walker, Carter, Sweeney, and Simmons.

TECHNICAL

The synopsis was shortened from 'Authorizes use of school bus monitoring systems; establishes certain enforcement procedures and penalties for certain violations captured by school bus monitoring systems' to simply 'Authorizes use of school bus monitoring systems.'

The version status changed from 'As reported by the Assembly Education Committee with technical review' to 'Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.'

REQUIREMENT

A detailed STATEMENT section was added explaining the full scope of the bill, including: a $300 civil penalty for camera-captured violations (versus existing criminal penalties), revenue directed to the municipality and school district where the violation occurred, no penalty points or insurance points assessed for camera-based violations, 90-day notice requirement, 60-day contest window with a $25 late fee, data retention limits of 120 days after penalty collection or 365 days if no summons is issued, and provisions that recorded images are not public records.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee

lower

4 primary · 34 co-sponsors