English: A photograph of a school bus with its stop arm in the deployed position. The bus is an IC Corporation IC RE; IC Corporation is a Navistar company. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is warning drivers to be extra vigilant as students and school buses return to the roadways this week.
By law, motorists approaching from ALL directions are required to stop at least 10 feet from a school bus with its red lights flashing and stop arm extended. The ONLY exception is when a school bus has stopped on the opposite side of a highway clearly separated by a divider. Even in this case, motorists need to watch for students trying to cross the road to catch the bus.
Motorists convicted of violating Pennsylvania’s school bus stopping law face a $250 fine, five points on their driving record and a 60-day license suspension.
Each year, more than a dozen children nationwide are struck and killed in their school bus loading and unloading zones because of illegal passing. For the the survey see the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services which recorded 40,000 violations of school bus stopping laws during the one-day count in 28 states.
For full article see: Illegal School Bus Passers in Pennsylvania Under the Eye of Law Enforcement and Stop-Arm Cameras.
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- PennDOT Reminds Drivers to Watch for Students, School Buses (gantdaily.com)
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Vinh P. Su, Esquire 