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