Guest Commentary | Stopping for a school bus is not a suggestion
School is back in session for an estimated 190,000 students across Southwest Florida, along with 22,000 teachers, administrators and support staff. Their return signals a familiar shift in traffic. Commutes stretch longer. Sidewalks and crosswalks fill with children walking and biking to campus. School buses have rejoined the morning and afternoon rush, stopping and starting along quiet neighborhood streets and six-lane arterials alike.
For drivers, that means adapting to different road conditions. This year, it also means adapting to different consequences.
A new level of enforcement
The 2026-27 school year will be the first full year in which stop-arm cameras are mounted on every school bus in The School District of Lee County. Through the district’s partnership with BusPatrol, buses carry cameras that record vehicles illegally passing a stopped bus — on the driver’s side, where most illegal passes occur, and on the side where children step off.
Initial results were sobering. Local law enforcement cited more than 27,000 drivers for illegally passing a stopped Lee County school bus between December 2025 and June 2026. A deputy with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office reviews each potential violation before sending a notice through the mail. Statewide, the Florida Department of Education reports nearly 8,500 illegal passes happen every day during the school year.
Know when you have to stop
Florida Statute 316.172 requires drivers approaching a school bus with flashing red lights and an extended stop arm to stop completely and remain stopped until the signal is withdrawn.
On a two-lane road, traffic in both directions must stop. On an undivided multilane road — including one separated only by a center turn lane or painted median — traffic in both directions must stop as well, no matter how many lanes sit between the driver and the bus. The only exception applies to drivers traveling the opposite direction on a highway divided by a raised median, a physical barrier or an unpaved space of at least 5 feet.
School officials call that distinction the largest source of confusion. Drivers in the far lane of a wide road often assume the law does not reach them. It does.
Children do not behave like traffic
A child stepping off a bus is the least predictable participant on the road and the least protected. Children cross mid-block, double back for a dropped folder and misjudge how fast a car is traveling. Younger students can disappear entirely from a driver’s sightline beside a bus.
Drivers can reduce the risk by keeping a few habits in mind:
• Treat yellow lights as your cue to stop: Flashing yellow means the bus is preparing to stop. Slow down and begin braking.
• Stay back and stay stopped: Remain stopped until the stop arm retracts and the red lights go dark.
• Scan around the bus, not just behind it: Children may still be approaching from a driveway, sidewalk or the opposite curb.
• Build in extra time: Most illegal passes come from drivers running late.
The financial cost of a violation
A camera-detected violation carries a $225 civil penalty. It is issued to the vehicle’s registered owner, adds no points and is not reported as a moving violation.
A citation from a law enforcement officer is a different matter. Passing a stopped school bus is a moving violation that carries a minimum $200 fine and four points. Passing on the side where children enter and exit raises the minimum to $400 and triggers a mandatory court hearing. A second conviction within five years brings a license suspension of 180 days to one year, or up to two years if the repeat offense involved the entry-and-exit side. Causing serious bodily injury or death carries a $1,500 fine, six points, 120 hours of community service and a suspension of at least one year.
Points are where the financial damage compounds. A four-point school bus violation follows a driver onto their motor vehicle record and signals high-risk behavior to insurers. A single conviction can raise a premium for years — often costing more over a policy period than the ticket itself.
A shared responsibility
Enforcement appears to be working. The School District of Lee County reports more than 90% of drivers cited for a first offense do not commit a second. Still, 27,000 violations in seven months reflects tens of thousands of moments in which a child was closer to injury than anyone realized.
When the red lights flash and the stop arm swings out, stop. It is the law, and it takes about 20 seconds.
Christopher J. Smith is co-managing partner at Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice, Purtz, Smith & Smith, P.A.