With more school buses on the roads, here’s what drivers should know
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - With back-to-school season here – or nearly here – across the CSRA, more cars and school buses will hit the road.
On the South Carolina side of the CSRA, the school year has already started in Aiken, Edgefield and McCormick counties.
On the Georgia side, the school year is looming for many counties.
In Columbia County, school buses were inspected Monday to make sure they’re ready.
The inspection includes a thorough check from top to bottom.
All equipment including tires, brakes, exhaust systems, headlights, engines, marker lights and mirrors are examined.
Any defects found will be corrected and re-checked before the beginning of the school year.
Since drivers are about to see a lot more buses on the roadways, here are the rules:
In Georgia
In most cases in the Peach State, the Georgia Department of Education says all drivers must stop when meeting or overtaking a stopped school bus that has its red lights flashing and its stop arm extended when loading or unloading engers.
The only exception is when highways are separated in the center by a dirt, grass or concrete median, the agency says.
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In this case, only vehicles following or traveling alongside a school bus in the same direction must stop.
Flashing amber lights are a sign that a bus is about to stop. Immediately slow down and prepare to stop.
Once the flashing red lights start and the stop arm activates, vehicles must stop and should remain stopped until all loading students are aboard in the morning or all unloading engers have cleared 12 feet off the roadway in the afternoon.
Proceed with caution only after engers have cleared the roadway, the stop arm is canceled and the flashing red lights are deactivated.
Fines for violations are jumping from $250 to $1,000 under the newly enacted Addy’s Law.
South Carolina
When driving on a road that is one way in each direction, all vehicles must stop for a stopping school bus.
However, when on a road with more than two lanes, the rules change. All drivers traveling in the same direction as the school bus must still come to a complete stop no matter how many lanes. Oncoming traffic will not need to stop. Just proceed with caution.
South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Nick Pye says this is because students will not cross roads with more than two lanes when getting off or on a bus.
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“What’s unique about a two-lane highway is this. When you talk about a two-lane highway, there will be kids or could be kids that are crossing that other lane of traffic to get to their destination,” Pye said. “So then we move to a multi-lane highway, that’s where multiple lanes are going in opposite directions. When that happens, the school bus would do the same thing, advanced warning signals and lights will come on but it will get in the far right-hand lane, a stop arm will come out and the door open. The kids will exit the bus but they will not cross into the opposite lanes. Vehicles traveling in the same direction as the bus are required to stop but vehicles traveling in the opposite direction do not have to stop but we ask them to proceed with caution.”
Technology on many buses records vehicles and their license plates if a car illegally es a stopped bus. This can result in a more than $1,000 fine and six points on your license.
Pye says the bus drivers go through a lot of training before the school season and try to avoid bus stops being at intersections when possible.
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