A program meant to enforce school bus laws was met with outrage from thousands of drivers who were issued citations and prompted a response from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
As of Friday, March 7, the program was suspended for citations given to those who passed school buses on roads with a median, according to a statement from Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, who took office in January 2025.
“When I became Sheriff, I ordered a review of the program,” Cordero Stutz said in the post Tuesday, March 11 via X. “The review led to me announcing last Friday the suspension of median enforcement citations.”
The post went on to direct those who need to contest a citation on how to do so and said all payments were collected direction through BusPatrol America, the private company that started the program.
What happened?
The BusPatrol Program began at the start of the 2024-25 school year and was an initiative crafted between Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the sheriff’s office and BusPatrol, to combat what officials were calling “a huge safety concern.” Nearly 1,000 buses were equipped with cameras to catch the license plate information of drivers who unlawfully passed buses displaying their stop lights and symbols.
Within the first two weeks of the school year, 13,500 citations were issued to drivers who violated bus laws. These citations cost drivers over $200 per violation and generated over $2 million in revenue that was then “funneled back into the program,” according to reporting from the Miami Herald.
The citations sparked outrage with local drivers, especially those who say they did not have to stop for the bus because they were driving in the opposite direction on a road with a raised median, as permitted by state law. When these drivers attempted to contest their citations, they told local media that “they were stuck in limbo waiting for a court date that never came.”
On the other side of the coin were Miami residents who were outraged, spouting anecdotes of “terrible” Miami drivers who weave in and out of traffic, speed and run red lights, creating a significant safety hazard. To these residents, the staggering number of citations issued during the first weeks of the school year were “appalling” and “proof” of an ongoing problem.
In all, the state had nearly 10,500 pedestrian crashes in 2024 that resulted in the deaths of 686 people, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ Crash Dashboard. The year before, there were 10,306 pedestrian crashes and 791 fatalities. About three months into 2025, at least 1,785 pedestrian crashes in Florida were reported to FLHSMV, resulting in 86 deaths.
In January 2021, before the launch of the BusPatrol program, penalties for failing to stop for a school bus and passing a stopped school bus on the side where minors were boarding or disembarking doubled. In 2022, the FLHSMV reported that there were almost 3,000 crashes specifically involving school buses. And, as Leesfield & Partners knows, these incidents do not always happen while the students are safely on board the vehicle.
Leesfield & Partners
Previously, Partner Justin B. Shapiro handled the case of a minor who was hit and severely injured by a distracted driver after his school bus driver instructed him to cross the street. In that case, our minor client was waiting at the corner of the intersection just after 6 a.m. to wait for the school bus.
While it was pitch-black outside, the driver stopped in the middle of the road and turned on the vehicle’s flashing lights before signaling for the waiting children to cross the street where there was no designated crosswalk. Trusting their school bus driver, the group of children began to cross the street. A speeding driver then hit our client, causing him to be knocked unconscious and needing to be airlifted to the hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a traumatic brain injury.
Not only should the speeding driver have taken more care, but an investigation by Leesfield & Partners revealed that the school bus driver was in violation of state law by failing to ensure there was at least 200 feet of visibility in the direction of oncoming traffic. She also failed to stop in the lane that was the furthest to the right and instead stopped in a middle lane, leaving the children vulnerable to this kind of incident.
Mr. Shapiro secured a confidential settlement for the minor and his family, which was over the insurance coverage of the at-fault vehicle.
Despite these laws and safety programs such as the BusPatrol, children have continued to be at risk thanks to distracted, negligent and impaired drivers. Similarly to the Leesfield & Partners case mentioned above, an 11-year-old girl was hit and killed in January 2025 by a speeding driver in Hernando County. The child was getting off the bus after school and walking down the road when the driver, 65, struck her. She was transported to a local hospital and died about a day later. It was not immediately clear Friday whether the driver in that case had faced charges.
In November 2024, three students were run down by a crazed driver who attempted to attack a fourth. Luckily, the driver was stopped by witnesses in Lake County.
A 6-year-old in Polk County was hospitalized after being hit by a car in April 2024 while exiting a school bus.
These incidents are a parent’s worst nightmare. As a personal injury law firm with nearly five decades of experience, Leesfield & Partners has been privy to the devastating fallout of these nightmares turned reality far too many times. It is through litigating these pedestrian and motor vehicle injury cases that the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, became an outspoken advocate for public safety. In the past, and through the involvement of his charitable organization, The Leesfield Family Foundation, Mr. Leesfield has partnered with safety and advocacy groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Friends of The Underline to highlight these glaring safety issues and ensure that drivers are aware
Florida Law
Drivers in Florida approaching a school bus displaying its lights and stop signals must stop. If they fail to stop, they are guilty of a moving violation and may be cited. However, if the bus is on a divided highway with an unpaved space of at least 5 feet, a raised median, or a physical barrier, drivers traveling in the opposite direction of the bus are not required to stop.
Under Florida Statute §316.172(3), school bus drivers must stop as far to the right as possible, activate their stop signals and lights, and wait for students to safely get on or off the bus. The bus should avoid stopping in areas where visibility is poor, ensuring that drivers have a clear view of the bus for at least 200 feet in either direction, whenever possible.
Previous Cases
In nearly five decades of personal injury law, Leesfield & Partners attorneys have become experts in pedestrian and motor vehicle accident cases. Our attorneys are dedicated to securing the best possible outcomes for each client. Through innovative trial strategies, sharp investigative skills and a profound understanding of the law, Leesfield & Partners relentlessly works to achieve exceptional results.
Leesfield & Partners obtained an $8.5 million settlement following a $27 million arbitration award for the family of a young woman who was killed by a pickup truck driver while trying to cross the street. The woman, a wife and mother of two, was visiting Florida from her home in Toronto, Canada, when she was crushed by a pickup truck. The driver in that case claimed to not have seen her.
In a case also handled by Mr. Shapiro, the maximum recoverable amount set forth in the defendant’s insurance policy limits for a woman who was horrifically injured while walking back to her office following a midday break. The woman in that case was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk when a pickup truck driver made an illegal left turn, claiming to not have seen her. Her injuries included skull fractures and brain hemorrhages in addition to injuries to her left leg.
A $6 million settlement was secured for the client in that case.
In another bus accident case handled by the firm, Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured $3 million for a family of a special needs adult killed in a rollover crash on a cruise ship excursion. The family in that case was traveling on a cruise ship when they booked an excursion to explore at one of the vessel’s scheduled stops. Due to a faulty vehicle and negligent driver, the bus the family was on was involved in a grisly rollover crash that caused their son to be ejected from the vehicle. He died from his injuries.
A pedestrian-involved case handled by Leesfield & Partners resulted in a $2.9 million recovery our client who was injured due to a driver’s negligence.
The firm settled a pedestrian case in which our client was hit while walking on the sidewalk by a driver who was distracted by a cellphone. That case was resolved with a $1.5 million settlement.
In a case against a bus company involving the tragic death of a pedestrian, Leesfield & Partners secured a $1 million recovery for the victim’s family.