Wednesday, September 04, 2013

School Bus Laws


School is back in session and school buses are back on the road.  Here are a few rules of the road that you might not have known as they pertain to a school bus.
Everyone knows to stop when a school bus is loading and unloading passengers, but what you may not know is that if you don’t stop, you could get a ticket of up to $250. That fine can go up to $2,000 and a suspended license of up to a year for subsequent offenses (MGL 90-14)

Oh, speaking of stopping behind a stopped bus, even fire trucks, police cars and ambulances with their sirens on have to stop until the passengers have been loaded or unloaded. (MGL 89-7B)

Tell your kids to sit down, because bus drivers can be fined up to $500 if they drive the bus when the kids aren’t sitting down, or if they have more school children than seats. (MGL 90-7L)

Anybody caught throwing rocks at a school bus can be fined up to $500 and be sent to jail for a year. (MGL 159-104)

Unless they’re on limited access highways (like an interstate), school bus drivers can’t go faster than 40 miles per hour if they’re transporting kids. (MGL 90-17)

For more information on school bus laws search the full text of the Massachusetts General Laws.