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School Bus Traffic Laws In Oregon State
Yesterday as I was driving down the road, a school bus was stopped on the opposite side of the street with the red stop sign out. I noticed that the traffic on the side of the bus was stopped and waiting for the red stop sign to go back in. However, on my side of the street it was different. I was stopped and watched as cars went right past me. They did not stop at the law states.
811.155 Failure to stop for bus safety lights; penalty. (1) A driver commits the offense of failure to stop for bus safety lights if the driver meets or overtakes from either direction any vehicle that is stopped on a roadway and that is operating red bus safety lights described under ORS 816.260 and the driver does not:
(a) Stop before reaching the vehicle; and
(b) Remain standing until the bus safety lights are no longer operating.
(2) The following apply to the offense described in this section:
(a) The offense described in this section does not apply if the vehicle operating the bus safety lights is not permitted under ORS 816.350 and 816.360 to operate red bus safety lights.
(b) A driver need not comply with this section if the vehicle operating red bus safety lights is stopped on a different roadway.
(3) The offense described in this section, failure to stop for bus safety lights, is a Class A traffic violation. [1983 c.338 §583; 1985 c.16 §290]
http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/811.html
A good rule is to always stop. Children can always do something you are not ready for. If you are a passenger make sure your driver understands and knows this law. If you or they are in an accident, make sure you hire an attorney with the knowledge of this law.
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October 9th, 2009 at 10:16 am
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October 26th, 2011 at 11:00 am
I am driving south 15mph in a school zone where school yellow lights are flashing.
A school bus is driving north and as the front of both our vehicles meet, the yellow bus lights start flashing, I proceed with caution. Within a few seconds I am stopped by a police officer, he asked if I saw the flashing lights, I said yes, then he said why didn’t you stop?
I told him I did not see any stop sign open up from the school bus. I do know to stop at red lights or red lights flashing or stop signs. My question is, when yellow school bus lights are flashing what is the legal action to take?
December 15th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Flashing Red Lights
Don’t pass a stopped school bus
Drivers must stop on the street or highway 20 feet or more from any school bus that has stopped and is flashing red warning lights.
* This applies both to vehicles approaching from the rear and from the opposing lanes.
* All lanes of traffic must stop for the school bus, except in opposing lanes if the highway is divided with a center median.
* No vehicle may proceed until the bus resumes motion and has turned off the red warning lights.
* The stop arm on the bus is an added communication to other drivers, but the lack of an extended stop arm is not reason to pass a bus whose red lights are flashing.
In some urban areas buses will signal with yellow lights, or use red lights only in some parts of town. Motorists should observe school buses carefully for either the “pass cautiously” yellow light signal or the required full stop when a bus is flashing red lights.
A vehicle owner can be cited when the driver of a car passes a school bus illegally. A law enforcement officer need not witness this violation if the school bus driver reports it to the law enforcement agency within 24 hours. Fines can be quite high for illegally passing a school bus, but the risk of hitting a child is even higher.
http://www.oregonsd.org/district.cfm?subpage=146
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