WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — A mom in Wesley Chapel is fed up with drivers that blow past school buses in the morning and afternoon on Curley Road.
Maria Sanchez recorded video of at least two cars passing a school bus after its arm was extended and flashing lights were turned on.
"A lot of people don’t know the laws,” Said Sanchez.
Curley Road at Wild Taro Way is a two lane road with no divider in between, which means cars that come from both directions must stop for a school bus when it’s lights are flashing. She says even the bus drivers have started taking a tally of cars that don’t stop.
WATCH | Pasco deputies cite drivers who don't stop for school bus along US 19
"They’re putting their signal on, even honking the horn and now the drivers have gotten to the point where they’re writing every time for a vehicle has not stopped,” she said.
Sanchez says she has reached out to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office in hopes a deputy will come out and patrol, and possibly hand out tickets to drivers that break the law. She says no one has come out yet.
"Kids are number one, they should always be number one,” she said. "I’m calling you because I’m concerned as a citizen that our children might be a little bit in danger. Do you want to wait till something really bad happens or just try to do something before hand?”
We reached out to deputies who say they take this issue very seriously. Last year, after ABC Action News showed cars not stopping for a bus on US 19, Pasco County deputies came out in full force to pull drivers over and hand out tickets.
Sanchez says she would like to see buses pull into the gated community, drop kids off, and then pull back onto curley road. We saw at least one bus do this. We've reached out to the school district, they say the special education buses are the only ones with gate keys. They say giving all the buses gate access wouldn't be feasible.
The Sheriffs office says they are going to take Sanchez’ concerns to the road patrol supervisor in that area for action.
Until then, Sanchez says she will continue to take videos of drivers on her cell phone to show help educate people on the law.
"The only thing I have left is, doing it yourself, record everything with the hopes that that might change something,” she said.
The speed limit on Curley Road is 55 MPH, and she understands it can be tough to stop quickly going that speed, but she says people need to be more aware of their surroundings.
"If the buses are giving you the sign way ahead and you’re not paying attention, that’s on you, that’s not on them,” she said.
