District, police respond to rise in bus passing

NAPLES, Fla. — The local school district is teaming up with police after seeing an increase in motorists illegally passing stopped school buses.

Collier County School District officials said that the problem has become particularly pronounced in the Golden Gate and Golden Gate Estates areas.

On Monday, the county sheriff’s office will kick off a specialized enforcement initiative in those areas.

The crackdown will begin at 6:15 a.m. each day next week, with deputies in marked patrol vehicles conducting the stops.

Sgt. Chris Gonzalez said similar initiatives have been successful.

“In the past, when we have provided similar special enforcement for the school district, it has appeared that our increased focus on this violation helped tremendously,” Gonzalez said. “Our vision is of having every citizen make a personal commitment to drive safely. ... Decreasing fatalities and injury crashes is everyone’s responsibility.”

The fine for illegally passing a stopped school bus in Collier County is $268.

As previously reported, a similar effort to cut down on stop-arm running took place across New York state on Thursday.