Do You Always Have to Stop for an Idaho School Bus With a Stop Arm Extended

This week has been National School Bus Safety Week, and it has been a learning week for many motorists. Despite flashing red lights and stop arms that extend from the sides of school buses, some drivers are still confused by or refuse to obey what those signals mean.

Illegally passing a stopped school bus when the red lights are flashing and the stop arm is out carries a serious penalty in Idaho, and it carries a severe danger to the children loading and unloading from that bus.

Do You Have to Stop: Learn the Law During Idaho’s School Bus Safety Week

The simple answer to whether you have to stop for a stopped school bus is yes, but the full answer isn’t that simple. National School Bus Safety Week isn’t just about motorists learning the law; it’s also a time for parents and students to learn about their shared responsibility. The Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office shared a post on Facebook highlighting things that parents and children can do to help make a school bus stop safe. They also reinforced the fact that even if the kids are doing their part to be safe, a careless driver can be a deadly driver.

A school bus stopping doesn’t come as a surprise either; the lights will flash yellow prior to a stop to warn other drivers that the bus is slowing to stop. But, there are times when drivers around a school bus aren’t required by law to stop, and that is where one of the main issues of concern and confusion lives.

READ MORE: Do You Always Have to Stop for an Idaho School Bus With a Stop Arm Extended

When school started in August, the TFCSO shared a post about school bus safety, where they laid out the law regarding bus stops. What the law requires depends on the direction you are traveling compared to the school bus and how many lanes of traffic the road has. No matter what, if you're headed the same direction as the bus, you have to stop. If you are headed toward the bus and there are three lanes or fewer (this includes a turn lane), all traffic must stop.

The only time a driver isn’t required by law to stop for a school bus is when there are four or more lanes and the driver is headed in the opposite direction of the stopped school bus. Drivers should still drive carefully since children will be in the area, and some drivers still choose to stop for safety, even though it isn’t required by law.

Penalties for breaking the school bus stop law increase with each offense. The first offense is a $300 infraction. A second offense within five years becomes a misdemeanor with a $600 to $1,000 fine and a possibility of up to 6 months in jail.

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Seeing a car dangerously and illegally pass a stopped school bus can be terrifying. Many videos have been shared this year already of instances that could have been deadly, and law enforcement has sought the help of the public to identify the violators.

This video from the TFCSO shows one vehicle running the stop, a second who slows in time but is then almost rear-ended by a third vehicle that was not planning to stop.

The bottom line is this: you have to be alert and cautious anytime you are driving around a school bus. They stop often, and they carry little kids who seem to appear out of nowhere sometimes.