With school starting back up the York County Regional Police Department wants to remind motorists to exercise caution when encountering pedestrians and school buses, and to be aware of newly-licensed, inexperienced drivers. The attached picture from PENNDOT provides a graphic representation of when motorists must stop in relation to a school bus.

When a motorist encounters a school bus with its amber/yellow lights activated, they may proceed with caution but should be prepared to stop.  This is not a time to accelerate in an effort to pass the bus before the red lights come on.  When the bus has its amber lights activated, it is approaching a bus stop where there are likely children present.  Caution must be used.

When a motorist encounters a school bus with its red lights activated, they must stop unless the lane they are in is physically divided with a barrier from the lane that the bus is stopped in.  

The most misunderstood portion of this law involves intersections.  If the school bus is stopped at an intersection, traffic on all intersecting roads must stop.  If the bus is stopped just prior to the intersection, you may not pull through the intersection while the bus has their red lights activated regardless of where the children are.  This includes turning right in front of the bus.  Note, the bus will not physically block the intersection in most cases because the bus stop is not in the middle of the intersection.  You must stop and wait for the bus to deactivate their red lights.

A violation of this law carries a $250 fine, 5 points on your driver's record, and a 60 day license suspension. 

The York County Regional Police Department takes school bus violations very seriously and will enforce this law aggressively.  It involves the safety of our children.

For more information on Pennsylvania's School Bus Stopping Law, including an animated graphic demonstrating when you must stop, visit https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dmv/driver-services/school-bus-drivers/school-bus-safety.