Back To School Bus Safety

By Joel D. Hand, Hand Ponist Smith & Rayl, LLC

Schools everywhere throughout Indiana are now likely back in session for the start of the school year.  With the end of summer break, morning commutes and afternoon travels can frequently be interrupted by the ubiquitous yellow school buses carrying the penultimate precious cargo – our children.  Nonetheless, far too many Hoosiers, regardless of income or educational levels, are sadly ignorant of the laws in place to protect our kids or simply feel entitled to ignore those laws because they don’t want to be inconvenienced.  However, ignoring school bus stop arms and failing to exercise extreme caution around bus stops and school buses can cause drivers to receive an infraction ticket which will result in 8 points on one’s driver’s license, a suspension of driving privileges or even land them in jail for a criminal offense.

Most of the applicable statutes can be found at Indiana Code 9-21-12, et. seq.  IC 9-21-12-1 prohibits a driver from passing a school bus when the bus stop arm is extended, which most people know, even if some are not as diligent about observing this law as they should.  What most people don’t know is that when ticketed for illegal passing a school bus, the court may suspend one’s driving privileges for 90 days or, if one has a prior offense, for up to 1 year.  Also unbeknownst to most, is that this law creates a rebuttable presumption that the owner of the vehicle was the one in violation of the statute.   This provision was created to assist in enforcement via video cameras installed on some school buses to capture video of vehicles passing while the stop arm is extended.

A common misconception about extended school bus stop arms is that if there are two or more lanes in each direction, that traffic approaching from the opposite direction is required to stop unless there is a physical barrier between the lane in which the bus and oncoming driver are moving in opposite directions.  That physical barrier can be a raised concrete barrier, curb or grassy median that is intended to prevent vehicles from crossing the barrier.  If the only barrier between lanes moving in opposite directions is a center turn lane, drivers moving in the opposite direction of a school bus with the stop arm extended must still stop according to IC 9-21-12-3.

With so many small children now getting onto and off of school buses during periods of heavy traffic on our streets and roadways, it is critical for their safety and your driving record to know, understand and obey the traffic laws related to school bus stops.  Drive safely!

More information on the statutes mentioned above:

IC 9-21-12-1       Arm signal device extended; duty; penalty; license suspension; presumption

     Sec. 1. (a) A person who drives a vehicle that:

(1) meets or overtakes from any direction a school bus stopped on a roadway or a private road and is not stopped before reaching the school bus when the arm signal device specified in IC 9-21-12-13 is in the device's extended position; or

(2) proceeds before the arm signal device is no longer extended;

commits a Class A infraction.

     (b) In addition to any other penalty imposed under this section, the court may suspend the person's driving privileges:

(1) for ninety (90) days; or

(2) if the person has committed at least one (1) previous offense under this section or IC 9-21-8-52(b), for one (1) year.

     (c) This section is applicable only if the school bus is in substantial compliance with the markings required by the state school bus committee.

   (d) There is a rebuttable presumption that the owner of the vehicle involved in the violation of this section committed the violation. This presumption does not apply to the owner of a vehicle involved in the violation of this section if the owner routinely engages in the business of renting the vehicle for periods of thirty (30) days or less.

IC 9-21-12-3       Divided highways; vehicles approaching school bus; duty to use caution

     Sec. 3. On a highway divided into two (2) or more roadways by:

(1) leaving an intervening space that is unimproved and not intended for vehicular travel;

(2) a physical barrier; or

(3) a dividing section constructed to impede vehicular traffic; and

if the school bus is on the opposite side of the traffic barrier, the person who drives an approaching vehicle need not stop and may proceed with due caution for the safety of children boarding or leaving the school bus.