for the School Bus

a reminder to motorists

You may come upon a school bus which is stopped and flashing yellow lights. This is a warning for you to prepare to stop because the children are preparing to leave the bus.

Drawing showing vehicles stopping for school bus.

All vehicles must stop

When you come upon a school bus stopped on either side of the road with flashing red lights, you must stop. The flashing red lights are located at the top front and top back of the bus. Schoolchildren will be crossing the road to or from the school bus. Remain stopped as long as the red lights are flashing. Failure to do so is a violation of VC Section 22454. You may be fined up to $1000 and your driving privilege could be suspended for a period of one year.

The only exception is on a divided road . A divided road is a roadway that has a barrier, a raised or lowered, paved or unpaved strip, or two sets of painted double yellow lines dividing traffic travelling in both directions. In this case, only vehicles coming from behind the bus must stop. You need not stop if the bus is on the other side of a divided or a multilane (two or more traffic lanes in each direction) highway.  

Illustration of vehicle stopped behind school bus on divided road

with median

Motorists may proceed only when the lights stop flashing and the STOP arm folds away.

Watch for the signs, watch your speed and watch for stopped school buses.

Remember too, school buses are required to stop at all railway crossings.