When Do You Stop For A School Bus? Know The Law In Florida

FLORIDA — When schools open in Florida — which is this week in most districts — drivers may be a bit rusty about what to do when encountering a stopped school bus. Knowing stop arm laws, and following them, can save the lives of dozens of children killed every year in America getting on or off the school bus, transportation safety officials say.

In Florida, the law requires drivers:

• Motorists are required to stop when approaching a school bus that is stopped with its red lights flashing and STOP arms extended.
• All drivers moving in either direction on a two-way street must stop for a school bus displaying a stop signal, and must remain stopped until the road is clear of children AND the school bus stop arm is withdrawn.
• On a highway divided by a paved median, all drivers moving in either direction must stop for a school bus displaying a stop signal, and must remain stopped until the road is clear of children AND the school bus stop arm is withdrawn.
• The only time traffic approaching an oncoming school bus does not need to stop, is if there is a raised barrier such as a concrete divider or at least five feet of unpaved space separating the lanes of traffic.
• On a highway divided by a raised barrier or an unpaved median at least 5 feet wide, drivers moving in the opposite direction do not have to stop for the bus (painted lines or pavement markings are not considered barriers). However, these motorists should slow down and watch for students loading or unloading from the bus.

Penalties for passing stopped school bus include:

• Moving violation subject to citation;
• Requirement to complete a basic Driver Improvement Course upon conviction;
• Four points on your driver license; and
• Minimum fine of $265, if you pass on the side where children enter and exit, you will receive a minimum fine of $465.

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.”

In the 2022-23 school year, the latest period for which data is available, there were 104 school bus-related deaths nationally, including four in Florida, according to the National Safety Council.

Those fatal crashes aren’t included in National Transportation Safety Board data from 2011 to 2020. It shows 1,009 fatal school transportation-related crashes during the period. Other findings:

• 52 percent of school-age pedestrians killed in school transportation-related crashes were 5- to 10-year-olds.
• 1.6 times more fatalities occurred among pedestrians (183) than occupants of school buses (113) in school-transportation-related crashes.

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. It’s illegal in all 50 states to pass a stopped school bus under those conditions.

A survey by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation released in July estimated that illegal passing of stopped school buses increased by about 4 percent in the 2023-24 school year to about 45.2 million. The estimate is based on a one-day count by school bus drivers in 35 states, adjusted for all school buses operating nationwide.

Such violations continue to be “the greatest safety danger to children,” the group’s president, Mike Stier, said in a statement.

That was tragically illustrated in an illegal school bus passing in 2018 that resulted in the deaths of three young Indiana siblings while they were crossing the road to get on the school bus.

That led the NTSB, an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, to recommend that states allow stop arm cameras as an enforcement tool. The agency also recommended that school districts minimize the number of school bus stops that require children to cross a roadway.

So far, 25 states have adopted stop arm camera laws, including Florida in 2023.

Increasingly in recent years, state legislatures have adopted policies to improve bus safety. Along with the camera push, a requirement for seat belt use on school buses are keystone policies.

NHTSA data also shows that an average of six student passengers die a year in school bus crashes. The agency recommended in 2018 that states adopt legislation requiring passenger lap and shoulder belts on all new large school bus purchases.