Judge Hayward grants multiple red-light and school-bus appeals, sets 90-day payment windows for others

(Note: the article below is the final revised version after auditing for accuracy and attributions.)

Judge Tammy Long Hayward heard the civil red-light and school-bus calendar April 28, 2025, in Clayton County State Court, Courtroom 304. She opened by explaining the statutory penalty for improperly passing a stopped school bus and the practical rule the court will apply: when there is a physical, nontraversable median separating opposing traffic, drivers on the opposite side need not stop; otherwise drivers must stop. "It is a thousand dollar fine if you are found to have passed improperly passed a school bus," Hayward said; she added that the court cannot change that figure because "it is in the law." (The transcript did not specify the precise statutory citation.)

The state and defense attorneys paired up for individual hearings and pre-hearing conferences. Where video evidence or affidavits showed drivers could not reasonably have stopped, Hayward granted…