Your commute has likely been school bus-free for the past two months. It's important to note that there are special rules for sharing the road with school buses.
Here's a refresher:
- On a 2-lane road, drivers traveling in both directions have to stop 10 feet away from the closest point of the school bus when it stops to pick up or drop off passengers.
- When a bus stops to pick up or drop off, cars have to stay stopped until the bus driver signals that traffic can proceed and the red arm (or stop-sign) on the side of the school bus retracts.
- In Ohio, drivers traveling in the opposite direction of a school bus on a road with four or more traffic lanes are not required to stop while passengers are getting on or off the school bus. If you're behind a bus, however, you do still need to stop.
- Never pass a bus from behind if it is stopped to load or unload children. If you're on an undivided road, you can't pass a bus from either direction, according to the National Safety Council.
- The National Safety Council also gave this sage, if not obvious, advice: "children often are unpredictable, and they tend to ignore hazards and take risks."
Information gathered from the Ohio BMV and the National Safety Council.
