Safety first when school buses are stopping

School’s back in session and the school buses are once again running in the morning and afternoon. Keeping kids safe is a priority at the Precinct 3 Constable’s office. The Constable and deputies has made a concentrated effort the past few years to enforce the laws concerning a bus stopping for loading and unloading students.

Having ridden a few times with deputies, they are very serious when it comes to school bus laws. There are serious problems about passing a school bus. The safety of kids is a priority and in rural areas is downright scary with drivers ignoring this law.

Back in 2016, 48 citations were issued for school bus violations. The Precinct 3 Constable’s office has done a great job in getting the word out and letting drivers know how important the law is with the citations dropping to 18 in the last year, 2018. Being aware of the laws regarding a stopped school bus with lights flashing or a mounted stop sign extended out, as a warning is not something that can be disregarded.

Here is the law concerning a stopped school bus according to the Texas Transportation code:

An operator on a highway, when approaching from either direction a school bus stopped on the highway to receive or discharge a student; shall stop before reaching the school bus when the bus is operating a visual signal as required and may not proceed until the school bus resumes motion; the operator is signaled by the bus driver to proceed; or the visual signal is no longer actuated…

A highway is considered to have separate roadways only if the highway has roadways separated by an intervening space on which operation of vehicles is not permitted, a physical barrier, or a clearly indicated dividing section constructed to impede vehicular traffic; and a highway is not considered to have separate roadways if the highway has roadways separated only by a left turn lane.

The Wimberley Valley has no such separated highways in the area, there has to be a barrier or median between roads. Tickets are expensive, in the $500 to $1000 range plus court costs and are doubled for a repeat offense.

But the most important reason? Kids are unpredictable and can jump out at any time, a disaster waiting to happen. So next time you are in a hurry, waiting in the middle of nowhere, is it really worth it to pass a school bus?