CALLAHAN, Fla. — Parents in Callahan are pleading for drivers to slow down near school bus stops off State Road 200.
Bailey and Zach Taylor sent First Coast News video they took Wednesday of a vehicle driving past their children’s bus as it’s preparing to stop. Then, a patrol car goes after that driver.
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to First Coast News one of its deputies performed a traffic stop because the vehicle illegally passed the school bus.
The Taylors said it happens almost every day. The posted speed limit near the bus stop is 65 miles per hour.
Thursday, First Coast News crews saw a vehicle pass the bus as it was preparing to stop.
“We’d be out here, and we saw cars kind of ignoring the bus, the flashing lights and the stop sign on the bus,” Bailey Taylor said.
The Taylors said their concerns were elevated earlier this year.
They said a truck carrying logs stopped short behind the bus as it was preparing to stop.
According to the Taylors, the truck veered off the right shoulder and into a ditch. They said their children were about to step off the bus when their bus driver yelled at them to stop as the truck rolled past the bus door.
Since then, the parents of three started posting videos of the bus' morning and afternoon arrival on social media.
They also brought their concerns to the Nassau County School District and sheriff’s office.
“They’ve been sending patrol cars out, I would say, three to four times a week,” Bailey Taylor said.
The sheriff's office says it's been ticketing drivers for illegally passing buses around the county.
It's illegal for vehicles to pass a bus with its red stop arm out, but it's not illegal to pass if the yellow warning lights are still blinking.
The district said its drivers are trained to deploy their red stop arm only when it is safe.
“I know we’re all like 'Oh we're behind the school bus right in the mornings.' We timed it and it's like less than 90 seconds that you have to be stopped,” Bailey Taylor said
The Taylors asked the district if the bus could pull off into their neighborhood right off SR-200, but the district said it couldn’t because there is no outlet.
A spokesperson for the district told First Coast News several neighborhoods off SR-200 have streets that are too narrow for bus stops, among other issues.
The district said it plans to add cameras to its buses to hold drivers accountable, but did not have an answer as to when those cameras may come.
“Implementing that and getting the cameras on the buses are quite expensive. That's all understandable. But I think we need to find a maybe quicker, faster, cheaper option,” Bailey Taylor said
With the school year ending, the Taylors would like to see the sheriff's office and district promote social media campaigns to tell people to slow down.
“As a mom, just for the safety of my kids, I think it would be absolutely terrible if we're here today, because if anything happened to our kids or anybody else's,” Bailey Taylor said.