At a press conference, pictured from left, are West Orange Board of Education President Brian Rock, Sunil Badlani, WOHS Principal Oscar Guerrero, Superintendent Hayden Moore, Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, Sen. John McKeon, Sen. Patrick Diegnan. Sangeeta Badlani is at the podium.
WEST ORANGE — The Nikhil Badlani Foundation (NBF), long-time partners with the West Orange School District, held a press conference in support of state legislation that will help protect children across New Jersey by authorizing the use of school bus monitoring systems.
Present at the press conference were bill sponsor, State Sen. Patrick Diegnan, Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, Sen. John McKeon, West Orange Superintendent of Schools Hayden Moore, WOHS Principal Oscar Guerrero, Board President Brian Rock, Director of Transportation Michael Schaaf, WOHS PTA President Betsy Stephens, and the WOHS NBF Youth Advisory Board.
Nikhil Badlani Foundation founder Sangeeta Badlani, explained.
“This issue is deeply personal to me. My 11-year-old son, Nikhil, was killed by a driver who failed to stop at a stop sign. Since that day, I’ve dedicated my life to preventing other families from experiencing the same heartbreak. Every time I hear about another child being hit or killed because a driver ignored a stopped school bus, I relive that pain.”
“Across the country, drivers illegally pass stopped school buses more than 39 million times each year. In New Jersey, a pilot program in Woodbridge Township during the last school year equipped just ten school buses with cameras — and they recorded 2,840 illegal passes between September and June. That’s an average of more than two violations per bus, per day,” she said.
“The technology exists to stop this. The cameras automatically capture vehicles that pass when the red lights are flashing. Law enforcement reviews the footage and, if confirmed, a $250 citation is issued. More than 32 states have already authorized this technology. It works — over 90% of first-time offenders never do it again once they’re held accountable,” Badlani said.
“This bill is about prevention — about protecting children before tragedy strikes,” she said.
“There is nothing, nothing, nothing, more important than the safety of our children,” added Diegnan.
“Woodbridge had the pilot program and 2,800 violations were recorded. I was astounded,” Karabinchak said.
“This new legislation will educate our drivers and make a difference in our future,” he said.
“As I look at the Badlanis and these amazing students, I think ‘this is America’. You have my full support for this legislation,” McKeon said.
“The West Orange Schools deeply appreciate the prospect of enhancing communication between our law enforcement and our district. Our school bus drivers transport nearly 7,000 students each day, and they deserve full cooperation on the roadway. People who illegally pass a school bus violate the law and ignore the school bus stop sign, take a tremendous risk and place everyone in danger,” Moore said.
More than 32 states have already authorized this technology. More than 90% of first-time offenders never do it again once they’re held accountable.
New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania already have the cameras operational on their buses.
New Jersey Senate Bill S1469 is currently in the Senate Transportation Committee, where it was referred after being introduced in the current 2024-2025 legislative session. The bill has not been enacted into law.
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