As students are starting back to school, Jimmy Sprague, Transportation Supervisor for the DeKalb County School System wants to caution drivers to be aware of the rules and penalties for improperly passing a school bus.
“Buses will start running on August 7, which is an abbreviated school day. Our first full day is August 9. I want to let the public know that the buses will be running so please pay attention. We will have children at the bus stops to be picked up in the mornings and dropped off in the afternoons. Remember when the buses stop and the lights are flashing, don’t pass the buses because we’re either loading or unloading children. If you should be running late for work in the mornings, please don’t try to make up for lost time by trying to pass a school bus. Leave a little earlier to get to your destination to avoid the bus traffic. Nothing is as dangerous as when children are getting on or off a school bus, especially when there is traffic that doesn’t stop for a bus,” said Sprague.
Four lane highways are of particular concern. “For example Highway 70 (West Broad Street) in Smithville is a four lane with a driveable median and state law says if there is a driveable or paved median between the (east and westbound lanes) then all four lanes of traffic have to stop if a bus is picking up a child. If there is a non-driveable (grass or barrier) median only traffic going in the same direction as the buses have to stop. The state has been cracking down violators. It is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine. I want to encourage everybody to practice safe driving at all times but especially around school buses,” he said.
Sprague said all buses are in good condition and drivers are certified to begin the new year. “Our drivers have been certified this year. DeKalb County is blessed with an outstanding group of drivers. I go to meetings within our state transportation department and I tell them all, and I make no bones about it, DeKalb County has the best bus drivers in the state of Tennessee,” said Sprague.
The Tennessee law states: The driver of a vehicle upon a highway, upon meeting or overtaking from either direction any school bus that has stopped on the highway for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children, shall stop the vehicle before reaching the school bus, and the driver shall not proceed until the school bus resumes motion or is signaled by the school bus driver to proceed or the visual signals are no longer actuated. Subsection (a) shall also apply to a school bus with lights flashing and stop sign extended and marked in accordance with this subsection (a) that is stopped upon property owned, operated, or used by a school or educational institution, if the bus is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children outside a protected loading zone.
All motor vehicles used in transporting school children to and from school in this state are required to be distinctly marked “School Bus” on the front and rear thereof in letters of not less than six inches (6”) in height, and so plainly written or printed and so arranged as to be legible to persons approaching the school bus, whether traveling in the same or opposite direction.
The driver of a vehicle upon a highway with separate roadways need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus that is on a different roadway or when upon a controlled-access highway and the school bus is stopped in a loading zone that is a part of or adjacent to the highway and where pedestrians are not permitted to cross the roadway. For the purpose of this subsection (a), “separate roadways” means roadways divided by an intervening space that is not suitable to vehicular traffic.
Except as otherwise provided by subdivisions (a) (1)-(3), the school bus driver is required to stop the school bus on the right-hand side of the road or highway, and the driver shall cause the bus to remain stationary and the visual stop signs on the bus actuated, until all school children who should be discharged from the bus have been so discharged and until all children whose destination causes them to cross the road or highway at that place have negotiated the crossing.
It is a Class C misdemeanor for any person to fail to comply with any provision of this subsection (a) other than the requirement that a motor vehicle stop upon approaching a school bus.
It is a Class A misdemeanor punishable only by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for any person to fail to comply with the provision of this subsection (a) requiring a motor vehicle to stop upon approaching a school bus.
Be alert and allow our children to arrive to and from school safely without harm.
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