Speed Busters: Former assistant teacher clocks speeding school buses in Plant City

PLANT CITY, Fla. (WFLA) — Traffic Reporter Leslee Lacey met up with a former assistant kindergarten teacher who is a stickler on speeding, especially when it comes to school buses.

Beth Hight lives along the one-way stretch of busy US 92 that’s called Baker Street. It’s located just west of historic downtown Plant City.

Beth keeps a log of all the school buses traveling down the her street, in her special “speeding book.” She contacted Leslee because she says the buses are traveling over the speed limit and is concerned for the safety of residents, especially children.

“I find that normally they are not having children on them, when they are speeding which is a good thing. But the bad thing is there are school buses that are speeding. If it’s not right it’s wrong,” Beth says.

So, after making homemade sun tea, Beth brought two chairs outside and she and Leslee speed busted school buses, Plant City style. Beth also brought out Snickerdoodles to make it a sweeter experience.

The speed limit is 35 mph. After clocking several school buses, Leslee found the highest offender was 40 mph. Leslee brought the results to Beth.

“Beth, the school buses weren’t flying but some of them were speeding. Top speed, 40 mph. Does that bother you?”

Beth replied, “That bothers me because it’s 5 mph too fast. The speed limit is 35 mph. It’s like being a little pregnant, a little bit over the speed limit, you know if you’re over, you’re over. If you’re pregnant, you’re pregnant.

“Yea, I guess that’s a good point. That’s an interesting way to look at it.” said Leslee.

Throughout Leslee’s speed busting efforts, she did witness several vehicles flying by at speeds over 50 mph, with one traveling 54 mph. She also saw one car turn the wrong way onto the one way street.

Beth’s response? “What’s the difference between a bus and another vehicle? I forgive the ambulance the police and the fire trucks. Everybody else can do the right thing.”

Leslee spoke with Plant City Police Sgt. Van Duyn. He was very receptive to Beth’s concerns and says they will complete a traffic study along Baker Street.

Leslee, of course, will be following up with him.

If you have a speeding problem in your area, contact Leslee on her WFLA Facebook page and she could bring Speed Busters to your neighborhood.