Stop for School Buses: Law Refresh

Students are preparing to return to school, which means school buses will be back on the roads.

Pennsylvania law requires that drivers stop when they meet a school bus with red signal lights flashing and stop arm extended.

School Bus Stopping Law

1. You must stop when you approach an intersection with a stopped bus with red signal lights flashing and stop arm extended.
2. You must stop at least 10 feet away from a school bus.
3. You must wait until the red lights have stopped flashing and the stop arm has been withdrawn before moving.
4. Yellow flashing lights indicate that the bus is preparing to load or unload children. Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop their vehicles.
5. Wait until all the children have reached a place of safety.
6. You must stop on roadways with painted lines.
7. You must stop on roadways with signing dividers. 
8. On undivided roadways, with no physical barrier or median, vehicles must stop on both sides of the roadway.  This includes 3-way and 4-way intersections, where vehicles must stop in all directions.
9. Drivers need to remember the unpredictability of children and be on the look out for all pedestrians.   
10. Drivers must vigilantly watch the roadway at all times, and always follow the speed limit, which may be lowered in designated school zones to 15 miles per hour.

Drivers do not have to stop on a highway with clearly divided sections or physical barriers separating the roadways, when the school bus is on the opposite side of the road.  

Penalties         

Those convicted of violating Pennsylvania’s School Bus Stopping Law will receive all of the following penalties:

• 60 day driver’s license suspension
• Five points on your driving record
• $250 fine

Information provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Trasnsportation.

Have you observed others disregarding this law? Let Patch know your experience in the comments.