LoginFlorida Officials Stress School Bus Stop Safety After Illegal Passer Hits Student
As school districts enter summer vacation, being cautious around school buses remains a priority. A Florida family joined the local school district and Sheriff in speaking out after a 14-year-old girl was struck by a car while attempting to board a school bus in Lee County.
The sheriff’s office and school district held a bus stop safety news conference May 21 following the incident in Estero, Florida, involving eighth-grader Abigail Westveer and several similar incidents across the county. More than 25,000 drivers were caught illegally passing Lee County school buses over a five-month span, alarming law enforcement officials and school leaders. During the conference, Superintendent Denise Carlin said the district partnered with BusPatrol and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office last year to install stop-arm cameras on school buses.
“We installed cameras on our bus fleet to capture video of drivers who fail to stop when a bus is stopping to pick up or drop off our children,” Carlin said.
Westveer was hit the morning of March 31, when a motorist illegally passed a stopped school bus on the right side where the teenager was walked toward the loading doors, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Video of the incident shows the girl approaching the bus when the sedan comes from behind the bus and passes on the right side at a high rate of speed.
The BusPatrol footage shows the motorist attempting to brake and steering to the right onto a grassy area to try avoid hitting Westveer. Instead, the motorist side-swiped Westveer, striking the girl in the back with the left side of the vehicle. The teen braces herself moments before impact and is thrown to the ground, sliding several feet.
Seconds later, the video shows the driver, whose identity was not immediately released by authorities, exit the vehicle and run toward the teen as another bystander approaches to help.
“That video sickens me,” Sheriff Carmine Marceno said during the press conference. “When those lights are red and that bus stops, stop your vehicle. It’s that simple,” he continued.
Marceno said the enforcement initiative is focused on changing dangerous driving habits around school buses. “There’s one goal here and one mission: Changing driver behavior. It’s about educating the public and saving lives,” he said. Ninety-plus percent of the violators don’t repeat offend. That means the program works.
“Our goal is not to give everybody a ticket. Our goal is to write no tickets because people comply.”
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Westveer “was nearly seriously injured” in the crash, calling the incident “a frightening reminder of how quickly lives can change in just seconds.”
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The incident came only seven weeks after the girl’s father died. The family said they are still mourning his loss while trying to recover from the latest traumatic event.
“I damn near lost my granddaughter because of someone that wasn’t paying attention,” Westveer’s grandfather Brian Masters said during the news conference. “This has got to stop before someone does get killed.”
Lori Masters, the girl’s grandmother, added that despite being hit Westveer was at school the following day. She noted that a responding deputy said the outcome could have been much worse if the girl turned to face the oncoming vehicle instead of bracing for impact.
Authorities confirmed that the motorist received a citation in connection with the incident. Additional details about the citation were not immediately released, but Marceno said their could be further a investigation of the motorist.
In the weeks following the incident, local officials have used Westveer’s story to raise awareness about school bus safety and the dangers of illegally passing stopped buses. “Every violation represents a child who could have been seriously killed or injured,” Marceno said.
BusPatrol President and CIO Justin Myers said the program is designed to reduce dangerous driving behavior around school buses through enforcement and education. “Every single violation that the sheriff’s office issues is an opportunity to permanently change that driver’s behavior,” Myers said.
Under Florida law, motorists traveling in both directions must stop when a school bus displays its stop sign and flashing red lights unless the road is divided by a physical barrier. Drivers who illegally pass a stopped school bus can face multiple penalties depending on the severity of the violation and whether children were endangered or injured. Violating the law is considered a moving violation under Florida Statute 316.172.
Myers said the company has seen illegal passing violations decline significantly in communities using stop-arm camera enforcement technology. “We’ve seen degradation of this behavior in communities by as much as 30, 40, or even 50% in the first couple of years,” he said.
Officials said many drivers either ignore the law or fail to pay attention around school zones and bus stops, creating dangerous situations for students entering or exiting buses. “It is entirely unacceptable, entirely preventable,” Myers said.
“Nothing is more important than making sure every child gets home safely,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement released during the news conference. “Together, we are making Lee County safer, one child, one bus stop, and one school zone at a time.”
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