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When to stop for a school bus, depending on the type of road. Image courtesy of Ann Arbor Police Department. (WDIV)<\/p>\nRecent school bus crashes and a near miss involving a child are renewing questions about what Florida law requires of drivers sharing the road with school buses.<\/p>\n
A school bus was involved in a crash on Yellow Bluff Road, where no students were injured but the bus had to be towed. <\/p>\n
In a separate incident in the College Gardens neighborhood, a stop-arm camera captured a driver going around a stopped bus as children were getting off. The car stopped just before hitting a child crossing the street.<\/p>\n
The incidents come after two school buses were hit from behind near the Jacksonville Zoo after stopping at a railroad crossing, with students in one of the buses taken to a hospital.<\/p>\n
Attorney Millicent Daniels of the Daniels Law Firm explained the rules and potential consequences during an appearance on The Morning Show as part of our \u201cJustice 4 All\u201d series.<\/p>\n
When drivers must stop<\/p>\n
Florida law requires motorists to stop when a school bus is displaying flashing red lights and has its stop arm extended, Daniels said. <\/p>\n
Drivers traveling in both directions must stop unless the roadway is divided by a physical barrier, a raised median or at least 5 feet of unpaved space.<\/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
On roads without one of those dividers, drivers approaching from either direction must remain stopped while the bus is loading or unloading students.<\/p>\n
Duval County\u2019s school buses are equipped with stop-arm cameras. <\/p>\n
Drivers who illegally pass a stopped school bus can receive a $225 citation, according to previous warnings from Duval County Public Schools and local school police.<\/p>\n
Penalties can increase if a child is injured<\/p>\n
Florida strengthened penalties through the Cameron Mayhew Act, named for a 16-year-old who was hit by a driver who failed to stop for a school bus, Daniels said.<\/p>\n
If a driver passes a stopped school bus and causes an injury or death, the driver can face 120 hours of community service at a trauma center or local hospital, a $1,500 fine, six points on a driver\u2019s license, a victim-awareness panel or approved driving course, and a driver\u2019s license suspension of at least one year.<\/p>\n
Even when no one is injured, passing a stopped school bus can result in four points on a driver\u2019s license, a basic driver improvement course and a statutory fine, Daniels said.<\/p>\n
Repeat offenders can face enhanced penalties. A driver who commits a similar offense within a five-year period may have a driver\u2019s license suspended for 90 to 180 days, in addition to the fine, she said.<\/p>\n
School buses must stop at railroad crossings<\/p>\n
Drivers also should expect school buses to stop at railroad crossings, even when no train is visible and no crossing gate is present.<\/p>\n
Under Florida law, school bus drivers must stop between 15 and 50 feet from a railroad crossing, Daniels said. <\/p>\n
Motorists following a bus should leave enough room to stop safely and avoid rear-ending it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnticipate that they will stop so that you can be prepared,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want you to hurt anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drivers who fail to stop for a bus or cause a crash could face additional charges, including reckless driving, careless driving or failure to stop. If someone is injured, the driver also could face a negligence claim, Daniels said.<\/p>\n
The safest approach is to slow down when a bus displays its yellow warning lights, remain alert for unexpected stops and never go around a bus with its red lights flashing and stop arm extended.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Recent school bus crashes and a near miss involving a child are renewing questions about what Florida law…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9460,113,28,30,29,5435,5436,55162,729],"class_list":["post-394783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-child-safety","tag-education","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-justice-4-all","tag-morning-show","tag-school-bus-safety","tag-traffic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394783","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=394783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}