{"id":386317,"date":"2026-08-31T18:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T18:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/386317\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T18:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T18:02:13","slug":"dcps-officials-warn-drivers-after-video-shows-car-narrowly-missing-child-after-illegally-driving-around-school-bus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/386317\/","title":{"rendered":"DCPS officials warn drivers after video shows car narrowly missing child after illegally driving around school bus"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The car brakes just feet from the first child. After the vehicle stops, two other children run across the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of seconds and inches that can change that child\u2019s life, that whole family\u2019s life for the rest of forever,\u201d said Heather Albritton, the district\u2019s director of health and safety, during an interview on The Morning Show.<\/p>\n

Albritton said the incident also could have changed the driver\u2019s life \u2014 all for the sake of saving a few seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was so important that you were willing to disregard the yellow lights, the stop arm, all of it to get where you\u2019re going?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

RELATED | DCPS: Over 5,200 school bus stop-arm violations in 2 months. What drivers are doing wrong<\/a> | Duval school bus stop-arm camera warnings end as Blanding Blvd. identified as hotspot; $225 fines begin<\/a> | Duval County drivers racked up $719K in school bus fines during first month of stop-arm camera program<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is multiple layers of review to make sure that the citation is legitimate,\u201d Short said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

When to stop for a school bus, depending on the type of road. Image courtesy of Ann Arbor Police Department. (WDIV)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Short said the bus\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would rather you get a rear-end collision than hit a child,\u201d Short said. \u201cThe priority is on student safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albritton said the district\u2019s \u201cBe Safe, Be Seen\u201d message applies to students, drivers and other members of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a shared responsibility,\u201d she said. \u201cBe safe, be seen is not just about teaching our students what they should do; it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The district is urging drivers to slow down, pay attention and stop whenever a school bus displays its stop arm and flashing lights.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Duval County Public Schools officials are warning drivers to stop for school buses after a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1040,1038,113,116,118,117,154794,26497,729],"class_list":["post-386317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-dcps","tag-duval-county-public-schools","tag-education","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-school-bus-stop-cameras","tag-stop-arm-cameras","tag-traffic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}