By Atty. Michael D. Dautrich
Dautrich & O’Brien Law Offices
Everyone has seen a school bus at some point or another on the roadway stopped to pick up or drop off children. On the roads in Berks County, school buses can present challenges to motorists while stopped to pick up or drop off children. School buses are equipped with the following visual signals to tell drivers the school bus is about to receive or to discharge school children: amber visual signals, red visual signals, and stop signs and stop arms. Most people should know it is illegal to pass a school bus when the red visual signals are in use and the stop sign or stop arm is extended from the school bus.
Some people are too distracted, in too much of a rush, or not paying attention for some other reasons, and can miss these visual cues. There are no audible cues on most school buses, so you need to pay attention and look for the visual signals and stop for the bus.
However, there can be confusion about when a motorist must stop for the visual cues of the school bus depending on where it is situated in the roadway as compared to the school bus. Specifically, any vehicle approaching a school bus from the front or rear must stop when the flashing red signals and/or stop sign and stop arm are extended. In addition, when a school bus is stopped at an intersection motorists coming from any other direction of the intersection must also stop. That means you cannot turn right when a school bus is flashing its red signals and/or stop sign and stop arm at the street immediately to your left in the intersection. Likewise, you cannot turn left if the school bus is to your right at that intersection with the red signals and/or stop sign and stop arm extended. These are common mistakes by motorists when encountering a school bus at any part of an intersection. Also, when a school bus is on the opposite side of a highway, you also must stop, unless there is a fixed barrier that divides the roadway.
Please note school bus drivers are authorized under the Pennsylvania vehicle law to make the reports on their own without a police officer being present, and the police must file a citation against the driver who is reported by the school bus driver. In addition, multiple school districts in Berks County are now using state-of-the-art stop-arm enforcement cameras that are powered by Artificial Intelligence to capture video evidence of cars that failed to properly stop when a bus is picking up or dropping off students. It becomes much more difficult to defend a case when there is clear video or photographic evidence of the motorist passing a school bus in violation of the vehicle laws.
The penalties for passing a school bus improperly are extremely high. Notably, a sixty (60) day license suspension and five (5) points as well as a substantial fine of $250.00 plus all court fees and costs. So, when you are driving in an area and at a time when you would likely expect school bus traffic, keep your eyes open and pay attention because a violation of the school bus law will be extremely costly and you will lose your license if you are caught.
