A Lee County deputy was hit by a vehicle while investigating a crash involving a school bus in front of Manatee Elementary School in Fort Myers on Monday morning, and was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities said all students on board the bus were safe, and no one on the bus was hurt in the crash itself.
Deputies had responded to a crash involving a vehicle and a bus on Tice Street at Country Lakes Drive, according to Gulfcoast News Now, when the deputy working the scene was struck by another vehicle. The Lee County Sheriff's Office said the deputy was then transported to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were described as non-life-threatening. Per the same outlet, LCSO said all students were accounted for and safe, and Lee County Public Schools confirmed that nobody aboard the bus was injured. All lanes of Tice Street at Country Lakes Drive were shut down as crews worked the scene, though it is not clear from available reporting when the road reopened. The Miami Herald also reported on the incident, noting the collision took place near the school, which sits along Country Lakes Road.
A Second Roadside Close Call for Lee County Buses
This is not the only recent instance of a vehicle colliding near a Lee County school bus. In a separate crash reported by WINK News, a Jaguar collided with a school bus at the intersection of Whispering Pine and US 41 northbound around 8:50 a.m. No children were aboard that bus at the time, though the bus driver suffered minor injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, as was the Jaguar's driver. Deputies in that case cited the Jaguar driver for following too closely behind the bus.
Florida Law Requires Drivers to Slow Down or Move Over
Florida law spells out exactly what drivers are supposed to do when they approach roadside emergency vehicles with their lights activated, under Florida Statutes, Section 316.126. On a highway with two or more lanes in the same direction, drivers must vacate the lane closest to the emergency vehicle, or slow down if changing lanes isn't safe. On two-lane roads, the law requires motorists to slow to 20 miles per hour below the posted limit, or to 5 mph if the limit is already 20 mph or less. A violation is classified as a noncriminal traffic infraction.
Camera Program Has Logged Thousands of Bus-Passing Citations
Lee County has leaned on technology to try to curb dangerous driving around school buses. The School District of Lee County partnered with the stop-arm safety program BusPatrol to install cameras on buses so the sheriff's office could verify illegal passing violations. In the program's first week of operation, 1,139 drivers were documented passing stopped buses, with 261 of those violations approved by LCSO, 875 still awaiting review, and three denied, Gulfcoast News Now reported. Violations caught during an initial 30-day warning period drew warnings rather than fines, while those verified after Dec. 8 led to citations.
By the following school year, the numbers had grown substantially. The Lee County School District reported 30,232 approved BusPatrol citations during the program's first full school year, according to WGCU. Each citation for illegally passing a school bus in Lee County carries a $225 fine. BusPatrol also reported a 30% reduction in bus-passing violations between the program's December launch and the following May, and the School District's chief of safety, security and fleet operations said 90% of cited drivers do not repeat the violation.
