Passing a school bus that is stopped and showing flashing lights and / or stop signs is a punishable offense in Florida. The reasons for the statute is just plain common sense and this week, Manatee County will celebrate School Bus Safety Week.

The safety events being planned will involve a number of activities that will try and highlight the dangers to schoolchildren of drivers who pass a school bus when it is stopped, usually to allow children on or off the bus.

The school bus service performs a vital role right across the United States and transports millions of our children safely to and from school every day. In Manatee County alone, 166 buses are involved, carrying 16,000 children and traveling over 20,000 miles a day. One of the commonest complaints from bus drivers is the number of drivers who are either unaware of the regulations or continue to flout them, passing buses when children are moving around and endangering their lives.

Manatee County’s Bus Safety Week is honoring its school bus drivers with a donut and coffee day. At the same time, the operators will wear yellow and black – the same colors as the buses they drive.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway patrol and state transport department personnel will be stepping up operations on and around school buses in order to enforce traffic regulations.…