Video: Deputies stop drivers blowing past stopped school bus

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Reacting to a rash of deadly incidents involving children struck by vehicles while waiting for school buses, law enforcement and citizens in one Florida county are doing what they can to keep motorists in check. 

On Wednesday, Monica Douglas recorded video of a caravan of drivers blowing past a stopped school bus as it was unloading children on U.S. 19 in Pasco County.  Little did they know, deputies were waiting to cite them. The following day, the sheriff’s office released body camera video of deputies directing the vehicles into a parking lot where the motorists would be ticketed. The agency said 13 people were cited during a multi-day operation at the location. 

“As we have been posting about this morning, IT IS THE LAW to stop for stopped school buses,” the Pasco Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook. “These enforcement actions will continue. We share this video and the post from earlier today to raise awareness to this issue and help to stop it from occurring any more.”

In recent weeks, there have been numerous incidents across the country involving children being struck by vehicles while waiting for the bus.

Four children were struck at a bus stop in Rochester, Indiana. A 9-year-old girl and her 6-year-old twin half-brothers were killed in that crash. In Pennsylvania, a school bus driver arrived at a stop to find a 7-year-old boy deadafter an apparent hit-and-run.

In Tampa, a car struck five children and two adults waiting for the bus near to Carter G. Woodson K-8 School. Two of the children suffered serious injuries.