www.kisslinglaw.com
Every year when school starts, I like to remind everyone about the laws for stopping for a stopped school bus. Failure to do so is a class 1 misdemeanor. No PJC. Five license points, 4 insurance points. Here is more.
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North Carolina School Bus Stop Law
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STOP...It's
the Law
(poster & placard) |
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Download the North Carolina School Bus Stop Law Rack Card
Report of violation of School Bus Law (G. S. 20-2 17)  or  |
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§ 20-217. Motor vehicles to stop for properly marked and
designated school buses in certain instances; evidence of identity of driver.
(a) When a school bus is displaying its mechanical
stop signal or flashing red lights and the bus is stopped for the purpose of
receiving or discharging passengers, the driver of any other vehicle that
approaches the school bus from any direction on the same street, highway, or
public vehicular area shall bring that other vehicle to a full stop and shall
remain stopped. The driver of the other vehicle shall not proceed to move,
pass, or attempt to pass the school bus until after the mechanical stop signal
has been withdrawn, the flashing red stoplights have been turned off, and the
bus has started to move.
(b) For the purpose of this section, a school bus
includes a public school bus transporting children or school personnel, a
public school bus transporting senior citizens under G.S. 115C-243, or a
privately owned bus transporting children. This section applies only in the event
the school bus bears upon the front and rear a plainly visible sign containing
the words "school bus."
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section,
the driver of a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction from the school
bus, upon any road, highway or city street that has been divided into two
roadways, so constructed as to separate vehicular traffic between the two
roadways by an intervening space (including a center lane for left turns if the
roadway consists of at least four more lanes) or by a physical barrier, need
not stop upon meeting and passing any school bus that has stopped in the
roadway across the dividing space or physical barrier.
(d) It shall be unlawful for any school bus driver to
stop and receive or discharge passengers or for any principal or superintendent
of any school, routing a school bus, to authorize the driver of any school bus
to stop and receive or discharge passengers upon any roadway described by
subsection (c) of this section where passengers would be required to cross the
roadway to reach their destination or to board the bus; provided, that
passengers may be discharged or received at points where pedestrians and
vehicular traffic are controlled by adequate stop-and-go traffic signals.
(e) Except as provided in subsection (g) of this
section, any person violating this section shall be guilty of a Class 1
misdemeanor and shall pay a minimum fine of five hundred dollars ($500.00). A
person who violates subsection (a) of this section shall not receive a prayer
for judgment continued under any circumstances.
(f) Expired.
(g) Any person who willfully violates subsection (a)
of this section and strikes any person shall be guilty of a Class I felony and
shall pay a minimum fine of one thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($1,250).
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) of this section and strikes
any person, resulting in the death of that person, shall be guilty of a Class H
felony and shall pay a minimum fine of two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500).
(g1) The Division shall revoke, for a period of one
year, the drivers license of a person convicted of a second misdemeanor
violation under this section within a three-year period. The Division shall
revoke, for a period of two years, the drivers license of a person convicted of
a Class I felony violation under this section. The Division shall revoke, for a
period of three years, the drivers license of a person convicted of a Class H
felony violation under this section. The Division shall permanently revoke the
drivers license of (i) a person convicted of a second felony violation under
this section within any period of time and (ii) a person convicted of a third
misdemeanor violation under this section within any period of time.
In the case of a first felony conviction under this section,
the licensee may apply to the sentencing court for a limited driving privilege
after a period of six months of revocation, provided the person's drivers
license has not also been revoked or suspended under any other provision of law.
A limited driving privilege issued under this subsection shall be valid for the
period of revocation remaining in the same manner and under the terms and
conditions prescribed in G.S. 20-16.1(b). If the person's drivers license is
revoked or suspended under any other statute, the limited driving privilege
issued pursuant to this subsection is invalid.
In the case of a permanent revocation of a person's drivers
license for committing a third misdemeanor violation under this section within
any period of time, the person may apply for a drivers license after two years.
The Division may, with or without a hearing, issue a new drivers license upon
satisfactory proof that the former licensee has not been convicted of a moving
violation under this Chapter or the laws of another state. The Division may
impose any restrictions or conditions on the new drivers license that the
Division considers appropriate. Any conditions or restrictions imposed by the
Division shall not exceed two years.
In the case of a permanent revocation of a person's drivers
license for committing a second Class I felony violation under this section
within any period of time, the person may apply for a drivers license after
three years. The Division may, with or without a hearing, issue a new drivers
license upon satisfactory proof that the former licensee has not been convicted
of a moving violation under this Chapter or the laws of another state. The
Division may impose any restrictions or conditions on the new drivers license
that the Division considers appropriate. Any conditions or restrictions imposed
by the Division shall not exceed three years.
Any person whose drivers license is revoked under this
section is disqualified pursuant to G.S. 20-17.4 from driving a commercial
motor vehicle for the period of time in which the person's drivers license
remains revoked under this section.
(g2) Pursuant to G.S. 20-54, failure of a person to pay
any fine or costs imposed pursuant to this section shall result in the Division
withholding the registration renewal of a motor vehicle registered in that
person's name. The clerk of superior court in the county in which the case was
disposed shall notify the Division of any person who fails to pay a fine or
costs imposed pursuant to this section within 20 days of the date specified in
the court's judgment, as required by G.S. 20-24.2(a)(2). The Division shall
continue to withhold the registration renewal of a motor vehicle until the
clerk of superior court notifies the Division that the person has satisfied the
conditions of G.S. 20-24.1(b) applicable to the person's case. The provisions
of this subsection shall be in addition to any other actions the Division may
take to enforce the payment of any fine imposed pursuant to this section.
(h) Automated camera and video recording systems may
be used to detect and prosecute violations of this section. Any photograph or
video recorded by a camera or video recording system shall, if consistent with
the North Carolina Rules of Evidence, be admissible as evidence in any
proceeding alleging a violation of subsection (a) of this section. (1925, c. 265; 1943, c. 767; 1947, c. 527; 1955, c. 1365;
1959, c. 909; 1965, c. 370; 1969, c. 952; 1971, c. 245, s. 1; 1973, c. 1330, s.
35; 1977, 2nd Sess., c. 1280, s. 4; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1323; 1983, c. 779, s.
1; 1985, c. 700, s. 1; 1991, c. 290, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 382; 1994, Ex.
Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1998-149, s. 10; 2005-204, s. 1; 2006-160, s. 1; 2006-259,
s. 11(a); 2007-382, s. 1; 2009-147, ss. 1, 2; 2013-293, s. 2.)
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