Proposal to Put Cameras on Florida School Buses to Catch Dangerous Drivers
Florida state Senator Oscar Braynon, wants to install cameras on school buses to catch violators who fail to obey school bus safety laws and fine them $200. A First Coast News investigation from Jacksonville followed a school bus and caught six drivers who sped past a stopped school bus during just three stops. One irate mother told the news channel she has watched her developmentally delayed son nearly get hit several times. She has complained to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office but never heard back.
If the proposal passes, the individual school districts would have to pay for the cameras, but ticket proceeds would cover the installation. The bill is SB 250.
According to a 2011 National Stop Arm Violation Survey by the State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, there are more than 20,000 school bus stop violations every day. In Duval County, there were more than 2,000 incidents of illegally passing a school bus. The data shows in Florida there were 12,967 buses that participated in the survey and there were 8,917 passing violations out of more than 20,000 vehicles passing the school bus.
School Bus Stop Law
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports the drivers who pass a school bus on the left when it is stopped with the stop sign down and lights flashing have committed a moving violation. The ticket for the first offense is $165 and passing on the right side of the bus will result in a $265 ticket. A second offense will result in another ticket and a license suspension of 180 days to one year, plus a hearing before a judge.
Farah & Farah’s Florida bus accident attorneys understand that a driver on the other side of a divided highway from the school bus when that median is at least five feet wide, has a physical barrier or a raised median, is not required to stop.
By Eddie Farah
