JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County Public Schools officials are warning drivers to stop for school buses after a stop-arm camera captured a car illegally passing a bus and nearly hitting a child in a Jacksonville neighborhood.
The video, shared by the district last week, shows a car moving into an oncoming lane on West 4th Street in the College Gardens neighborhood as the bus sits stopped with its flashing lights and stop arms activated. Several children then emerge from the front of the bus and begin crossing the street.
The car brakes just feet from the first child. After the vehicle stops, two other children run across the road.
“It’s a matter of seconds and inches that can change that child’s life, that whole family’s life for the rest of forever,” said Heather Albritton, the district’s director of health and safety, during an interview on The Morning Show.
Albritton said the incident also could have changed the driver’s life — all for the sake of saving a few seconds.
“What was so important that you were willing to disregard the yellow lights, the stop arm, all of it to get where you’re going?” she said.
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The driver is expected to receive a $225 citation, said Duval County School Police Chief Jackson Short. A police officer reviews each citation before it is approved, he said.
“There is multiple layers of review to make sure that the citation is legitimate,” Short said.
Short said drivers traveling in the opposite direction also must stop when a school bus is stopped on a road without a physical barrier or median separating the lanes. In those situations, all lanes of traffic must stop for the bus, he said.
When to stop for a school bus, depending on the type of road. Image courtesy of Ann Arbor Police Department. (WDIV)
The district has issued nearly 4,000 stop-arm camera citations, according to a warning posted with the video. The cameras use artificial intelligence to identify potential violations, followed by police review.
Short said the bus’s yellow flashing lights are a signal for drivers to slow down and prepare to stop, similar to a traffic light changing ahead of an intersection.
“I would rather you get a rear-end collision than hit a child,” Short said. “The priority is on student safety.”
Albritton said the district’s “Be Safe, Be Seen” message applies to students, drivers and other members of the community.
“This is a shared responsibility,” she said. “Be safe, be seen is not just about teaching our students what they should do; it’s about the education of the broader community and making sure that everyone knows the expectations of being safe in their cars, being safe while they walk and being safe while they bike.”
The district is urging drivers to slow down, pay attention and stop whenever a school bus displays its stop arm and flashing lights.
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