School buses have joined the normal mix of morning and afternoon traffic on Rhode Island streets and highways.
Knowing stop arm laws — and following them — can reduce the number of kids killed or injured every year in America getting on or off the school bus, transportation safety officials say.
Every year, nearly 500,000 school buses take about 25 million elementary through high school students to and from school, traveling about 5.7 million miles in a single school year. These kids are 70 times more likely to arrive at school alive than those students who get to school by other means, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
However, the National Transportation Safety Board noted on its website, "far too many drivers simply choose to ignore the law for their own convenience and put children at risk."
If red lights are flashing on the school bus, Rhode Island law requires that motorists stop and remain stopped until the the red lights no longer flash. This applies on both public and private roads, and in parking lots. A fine of between $250 and $500 and a driver's license suspension of up to 30 days can be imposed for a first violation, with penalties increasing for subsequent violations. Motorists do not have to stop for the flashing red lights on a school bus when the bus is on the other side of a divided highway.
While all 50 states and the District of Columbia make it illegal to pass a stopped school bus with its red flashing lights active and stop arm required, at least 31 states have school bus stop-arm camera laws to allow for cameras to record illegal passing, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures tally last updated in October 2025 and Kentucky legislation enacted this year.
Rhode Island law allows schools to install cameras on buses.
In 2024, the most recent year for which National Highway Traffic Administration data is available, 110 people died nationwide in school bus-related accidents, down 14% from 128 in 2023, according to the National Safety Council.
Not all of the fatalities in 2024 were the result of a motorist's failure to follow school bus stop arm laws. However, in most cases when children are injured or killed, it's when the bus is stopped, the lights are flashing, and the stop arm is extended, according to safety experts.
In its latest national survey taken in April 2026, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services estimated about 38.4 million illegal school-bus passings last school year. Rather than reflecting actual law enforcement citations, this number is a national projection derived from a single-day tally of motorists in 39 states who failed to stop for school buses.
More than 101,000 school bus drivers in 39 states and Washington, D.C., reported 56,024 illegal passings in a single day during the 2025-26 school year. Those drivers represented about 26% of the nation's school bus drivers. NASDPTS extrapolated the results to an estimated 213,800 illegal passings per school day, or more than 38.4 million over an 180-day school year.
That estimate is down from 39.3 million in 2024-25 and 45.2 million in 2023-24, marking a second straight annual decline.
About 51% of the reported violations happened on afternoon routes, nearly 46% during morning routes, and about 3% at midday. Nearly 64% of vehicles passed from the front of the bus, while about 36% approached from behind.
Florida reported the most violations, followed by California, Georgia and Texas. Importantly, those state totals aren't clean comparisons because participation varied, and the survey did not adjust for factors such as traffic volume, route mileage, number of stops or road type, according to the bus drivers' group.
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