When should you stop for a school bus?
I have covered this in my Driving You Crazy segment a couple times… but it continues to confuse people. So I thought I would blog it!
Nevada law states you must stop for a school bus when it puts on its flashers and stops. You must stop — EVEN if you are driving in the opposite direction!
Here’s the catch… YOU DON’T have to STOP if you are driving in the opposite direction on a divided highway or roadway.
Here is the actual law written out, word for word:
NRS 484.357 Overtaking and passing school bus; penalty. 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, the driver of any vehicle upon a highway, street or road, when meeting or overtaking, from either direction, any school bus, equipped with signs and signals required by law, which has stopped on the highway, street or road to receive or discharge any pupil and is displaying a flashing red light signal visible from the front and rear, shall bring his vehicle to an immediate stop and shall not attempt to overtake or proceed past the school bus until the flashing red signal ceases operation. 2. The driver of a vehicle upon a divided highway need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus which is positioned in the other roadway. The driver of a vehicle need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus where traffic is controlled by a traffic officer. 3. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and: (a) For a third or any subsequent offense within 2 years after the most recent offense, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 and his driver’s license must be suspended for not more than 1 year. (b) For a second offense within 1 year after the first offense, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $500 and his driver’s license must be suspended for 6 months. (c) For a first offense or any subsequent offense for which a punishment is not provided for in paragraph (a) or (b), shall be punished by a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $500.
The problem is… many people DO not stop… or try and get by the bus at the last minute. You really shouldn’t do this… and you WILL get a ticket if caught.
By the way… since we’re on this topic… a reminder to stop and safely pull to the side for emergency vehicles too!
Gosh, have you ever driven and watched an ambulance or fire truck drive by… and people just continue to drive… or slam on their breaks in the middle of the road! It’s crazy. It’s like people scatter all over the place, making the situation worse. Safely, look around you… and slow down… then pull as far to the side as you can.
I think this rule appplies everywhere, not just Nevada…. so no, we can’t use the old excuse, “drivers in Las Vegas are from all over, they don’t know the rules.”
Tags: emergency vehicle, school bus, stopping
January 14th, 2008 at 10:09 am
I wish we had the flashing lights law, and the stop when you see them along with lower speed limits near schools, here in the UK.
At this time of year it’s dark when kids are getting off the buses and I watch drivers driving by far too quickly on so many occasions it’s just so dangerous.
Most people would consider hurting a child as one of the worst things a person could ever do but they sometimes don’t connect that with their driving.
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Twice in the last week a Car has sped by a stopped school bus with sign and red light flashing. There is nobody on this planet who is more important than children boarding a school bus!
People pull your heads out of your cell phones and away from whatever else you are doing between 6:30 and 9:15 in the am and 1:45 to 4:00 pm. I have reported people to the LVMPD and Clark County school bus drivers can Cite you for passing this red light.
Pull to the right if you see an emergency service vehicle in your rear view. The only exception is if you are on the opposite side of a dividing wall.
We should make traffic school mandatory every 5 years – oh wait that would be too much of a strain on the county. So their answer is “let the police manage” oh wait we don’t have enough of them either.
So why are we letting more people Move in? Oh that’s right G R E E D
February 5th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Dayna,
The NRS states divided “Highway” but your comments said “divided highway or roadway”. Is Nevada’s definition of Highway include roadway? Also what is considered a “divided” highway/roadway? obiviously I15/I95 is divided, but what about major BLVD’s that are divided by mediums with concrete curbs between directions, are those considered divided? I consider those “divided” but does the state consider those divided???
Please clarify if possible, thanks!
February 5th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Yes Rick- a divided highway includes surface streets… major roads that have a median ( not just painted lines or raised pavement markings)
You do not need to stop if you are heading in the OPPOSITE direction as the bus.
Hope this helps!
April 1st, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Dayna, I would like to know why there is not a 4 way
stop and the corner of Harmon and Cameron… Burke
School is on the corner plus you have the Bus Yard and
the Casino traffic. The stop is for traffic going East and West with the traffic going North and South able to go through. It takes forever to cross Cameron, plus there is a blind spot at the Corner of Harmon if you are heading West………Thanks for
reading this…
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:28 am
HI Jackie! Ggood news… there is a project planned this year for Harmon– and a TRAFFIC SIGNAL planned for that location. Here’s the list for 2008:
http://www.co.clark.nv.us/pubworks/county_projects/2008CCPWProjectList.pdf
September 16th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Hi-
Great topic, but you left out the part of on the road if you stop at a red light and in front of you is a police car – you should stop no more than 50 feet from the car, in case they have to “jump and run”. There is also a requirement for Fire Trucks & Ambulances – you must stay 100 feet back.
Does Nevada include a requirement to stay 20 feet back from a school bus with flashing red lights? I have always kept my distance. I only see a few states that require you to stay back.
Any idea why?
Thanks!
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:08 am
I don’t know why- but I don’t think Nevada has that rule… it’s not in the NRS listed above. It is very wise to do that though. I think common sense comes in to play here. Don’t you? I just hope everyone does the right thing.
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Here’s a little light on the divided highway/roadway issue: A few days ago I was headed to work on my motorcycle. I realized I had forgotten something and headed back home. I was making a left turn from eastbound Ann to northbound Jones and a school bus was stopped on southbound Jones, letting kids off. As there is a median between the northbound and southbound lanes, I did not stop, even though other cars behind me did. I’m sure someone probably called in to report me, and to make matters worse (for people who don’t know the law) there was a kid crossing the street, just walking right across the median, nowhere near the crosswalk that the city kindly provided at the corner, complete with several hundred dollars worth of pavement markings and a very nice, expensive flashing walk/don’t walk signal system.
Here’s the catch, if there would have been an accident, the person at fault would not have been me. As we see from the NRS Dayna posted above, I was not breaking the law. The kid, on the other hand, was doing something called Jaywalking, which is illegal. When a jaywalker is struck by a vehicle, the official cause of the accident is listed as “Pedestrian Error”, and -as long as the jaywalker is still alive- they get issued a traffic ticket for causing an accident (most of the time this happens inside the hospital where they are on the mend). Since an accident was involved, the jaywalking ticket is doubled from its normal $190 to $380. Ouch. Talk about insult to injury!
Lastly, I don’t know this for sure, but I’ve been told that school bus drivers are supposed to monitor the kids and not let them jaywalk like that… but you know how kids are these days now that it seems like discipline at home is a thing of the past and every parent wants to be their kids friend instead of being a parent… but that’s another blog.
October 11th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
James, as an Asst. Mgr & Dispatcher for a school bus company in NH, I’d call the bus terminal and make note of it to them. I’m not saying the driver of the bus was at fault, but on occasion kids do stupid things and the drivers are caught by surprise too. If it’s a common occurence with this bus in that spot, the school district & bus company need to enforce crosswalk use. In the main town of this school district there are crosswalks up and down mainstreet (hardly Vegas though). We stop just before the crosswalks and the children are forced to use the crosswalks in this downtown area. Before crossing though, the driver checks all mirrors for potential knuckleheads (usually Suburu / Volvo drivers) passing the bus on either side, or coming at the bus looking like they’re not about to stop. When it looks clearn the driver gives the kids the “thumbs up” to cross, telling them it’s clear. (We’re above the horizon line with an unprecidented view of all)
In the case at that intersection, the children should be forced to wait at the crosswalk and use the electronic traffic device. Your tax dollars didn’t get dumped into all that for nothing.
POV privately owned vehicle) drivers who see funky things like that where an accident might occur should always get the “fleet number” on the bus. Usually a 1 to 5 digit number 5″ or 6″ high on the sides, front & rear. It helps the bus office figure out which driver that is they need to discuss it with and develop a safer situation. School bus drivers aren’t in the business of killing kids, 110% the opposite.
(Sorry, ran across this blog looking something else up, felt the need to post)
October 16th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Morning Dayna,
I caught your “White Line” segment this morning and hope you post this there as I couldn’t find the thread. I feel it should be noted that many people cross those lines because the person/people in front are entering the expressway far too slowly. The right lane “speed limit” all over the valley SEEMS to be 55 to 75 MPH. When people enter the expressway @ 40 to 50 MPH, being too careful, saving fuel, whatever, this causes a frustrating safety concern.(i.e. getting rear ended) and people will pass them trying to get up to the “speed limit”. These folks need to PUSH on the gas pedal a little harder to smooth out the transition from secondary street speeds to expressway speeds. Theres my 2 cents worth, hopefully I won’t get change back.:}
December 9th, 2008 at 11:06 am
What’s even more annoying…is when people…periodically insert an ellipsis…in their message…apparently because…they don’t know what it means…
February 20th, 2009 at 7:40 am
can you pass a school bus at a railroad crossing , if they do not have there lights and stop signs out but are stopped with the door open
March 9th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Kathy, this seems like it really shouldn’t be a big problem here in Las Vegas. I grew up in Ohio (the land of a thousand railroad crossings) and by law, the bus has to come to a complete stop so the driver can look and listen for an oncoming train before crossing. Normally (at least when I used to ride a school bus) this only takes a few seconds.
I’d have to say that if you’re running so late that you’re considering passing a school bus under these circumstances, you may want to leave a few minutes earlier. Besdies, with the way our traffic lights are programmed in this city – to seeming hold up piles and piles of cars while simultaneously giving a green light to empty lanes for several minutes – the 5 seconds you would shave off by passing a bus at a train track would be eaten up by a red light somewhere else along your commute.
Also, from a legal standpoint, I believe if you look at the road markings, you’ll find that most (if not all) railroad crossings are marked with a double-yellow line indicating a “no passing zone”, ergo passing anyone stopped there would be illegal.
March 9th, 2009 at 5:50 am
**sigh**… it was supposed to be “seemingly”, sorry, my internal spell check / proof reading system isn’t quite functioning yet.