LITTLE ROCK -- With school beginning, more than 6,000 school buses will begin sharing the roadways with motorists, meaning school bus safety will again be a priority. To encourage all drivers to obey traffic laws, especially around school buses, the Arkansas Department of Education, Arkansas Association of Pupil Transportation, and Arkansas School Bus Mechanics Association are launching the seventh annual school bus safety campaign called "Flashing Red. Kids Ahead."
This one-month campaign reminds drivers that it is illegal to pass stopped school buses when their red lights are flashing, as students are getting on and off the bus. In April, Arkansas school bus drivers reported 884 instances of motorists illegally passing stopped school buses in one day. Twelve of those instances occurred on the right side of the bus, where students enter and leave the bus.
"Each day approximately 350,000 Arkansas students ride school buses," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. "Student safety on and off the bus does not stop with bus drivers; every motorist has a responsibility. The number of instances of Arkansas motorists illegally passing school buses in one day is alarming. In addition to increased penalties passed by the legislature this past session, educational campaigns are essential to combating this problem ... Each of us has a part to do to ensure each and every child arrives to and from school safely each day," he said.
The following Arkansas Code is from the advance.lexis.com website which publishes Arkansas Code for public access.
Arkansas Code 27-51-1004. Passing when stopped prohibited.
(a) When a school bus stops and displays its alternating red warning lights for the purpose of loading or unloading passengers, every operator of a motor vehicle or motorcycle meeting or overtaking the school bus from any direction shall bring the motor vehicle or motorcycle to a complete stop before reaching the school bus.
(b) The operator of the motor vehicle or motorcycle shall not start up or attempt to pass in any direction until the school bus vehicle has finished receiving or discharging its passengers and is in motion again.
27-51-1005. Operation on multiple lane or divided highways.
(a) For the purpose of this section, "multiple lane highway" means a road with four (4) or more traffic lanes and with no fewer than two (2) traffic lanes for traveling in each direction.
(b) If the school bus is operated on a multiple lane highway divided by a parkway or dividing strip of twenty feet (20') or more in width and if the school bus is on the opposite side of the parkway or dividing strip, then the driver of the approaching vehicle need not stop but shall proceed with due caution for the safety of the children.
(c)
(1) If a school bus route includes bus stops on a multiple lane highway, the route shall be designed to ensure that the bus operator shall always load and unload passengers in a manner that does not require a student to cross the highway.
(2) A student being loaded or unloaded at a bus stop on a multiple lane highway shall always be loaded and unloaded in a manner that does not require the student to cross the highway.
General News on 08/14/2019