JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County school bus cameras recorded 5,273 stop-arm violations in just two months, according to data from the district for May and June.
News4JAX reviewed the numbers and visited three locations that repeatedly showed up in the reports to explain what drivers are doing wrong — and what the law actually requires.
One road topped the list: The 8800 block of Beaver Street, where bus cameras recorded 117 stop-arm violations in May and June.
Beaver Street is a multi-lane roadway with painted turning lanes in the middle, and that appears to be where drivers get confused.
A painted section in the center of the road does not automatically mean drivers traveling in the opposite direction can keep going.
If a school bus is stopped with its stop arm out on a multi-lane road without a paved, (raised), median, traffic in both directions must come to a complete stop.
Just a few miles away, another repeat location appeared in both months’ reports: The 1100 block of Lane Avenue, where cameras recorded 54 violations.
It’s the same type of roadway as Beaver Street — and the rule is the same. If there is no divided highway median separating you from the school bus, you’re required to stop whether you’re traveling in the same direction or coming from the opposite direction.
A third hotspot was the 3200 block of Sans Pareil, another location that showed repeat violations in May and June.
What’s different there is the roadway setup: it’s a divided highway. On a divided highway, drivers traveling in the opposite direction can proceed with caution because there is a paved median separating them from the stopped school bus.
But drivers traveling in the same direction as the bus must still stop behind it. That means all of the violations at Sans Pareil involved drivers passing the bus while traveling in the same direction.
Here’s the simplest way to remember it: If you’re on a road without a raised median separating direction of travel, you must stop for a school bus with its stop arm out — no matter which direction you’re going. This is the same rule for two-lane roads.
If you’re on a divided highway with a raised median, you must stop if you’re traveling the same direction as the bus, but you may proceed with caution if you’re traveling the opposite direction on the other side of the median. This goes for when a paved median is present but also when an unpaved median is over 5 feet wide.
Here are those rules in a diagram (Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles):
Starting Aug. 10, if you’re caught illegally passing a Duval County school bus, you’ll face a $225 fine.