ST PAUL, Minn. — Kids across Minnesota are wrapping their heads around the fact that summer vacation is in the rearview mirror, and school starts Tuesday for the majority of districts across the state.
The same can be said for drivers, who are about to see kids and school buses everywhere. According to the Office of Traffic Safety, Minnesota school buses make at least 10,000 trips daily. Districts like St. Paul Public Schools use around 70 vans in addition to buses.
"We're right around 280 vehicles on the road compared to about 120 during the summer, so big difference there," SPPS Director of Transportation Ben Harri said. "Just stay off your phone … be careful, keep your speed down."
It's nothing new, but Minnesota's school bus stop-arm law requires a shift in mindset for motorists. It requires both awareness and patience to keep students safe, and themselves out of trouble.
Stop-arms
Here's what the law requires.
- When a school bus is stopped on a street or highway (or other signed locations) and displays an extended stop-signal arm and flashing red lights, the driver of a vehicle approaching the bus shall stop the vehicle at least 20 feet away from the bus.
- The vehicle's driver should not move until the school bus stop-arm is retracted and the red lights are no longer flashing.
- No driver may pass or attempt to pass a school bus in a motor vehicle on the right-hand, passenger-door side of the bus when the school bus is displaying the prewarning flashing amber signals
- No passing or attempting to pass a school bus in a motor vehicle when a school child is outside of the bus and on the street/highway or adjacent sidewalk.
A misdemeanor citation for a stop-arm violation will run at least $500, according to Minnesota law. Those who attempt to pass a school bus could be found guilty of a gross misdemeanor, and subjected to more serious penalties.
In recent years, KARE 11 has documented incidents where motorists have put the lives of school children in danger with their bad decision-making. Local law enforcement departments regularly hold crackdowns on stop-arm violators to hold them accountable, and many districts have installed cameras on some or all of their school buses to catch those violators in the act.
Crosswalks
Motorists should also be more aware of crosswalks while school is in session. State law says where traffic control signals are not in place or in operation, a driver MUST stop when a pedestrian is in a crosswalk. That driver can proceed once the pedestrian has completely crossed the lane in front of the stopped vehicle. Drivers approaching from the rear of the stopped vehicle must not pass.
The stakes are even higher when a group of school children is crossing a street. Any motorist who fails to stop when students are crossing a road or highway or drives past a member of a school safety patrol or adult crossing guard directing children across the street faces up to 90 days in jail, a $700 fine, or both.
An important reminder - drivers must treat every corner and intersection as a crosswalk, whether it's marked or unmarked. You must stop for a crossing pedestrian.
That doesn't mean drivers bear the entire burden of keeping pedestrians safe. State law says those on foot "must not enter a crosswalk if a vehicle is approaching. There is no defined distance that a pedestrian must abide by before entering the crosswalk, but common sense should prevail."
The bottom line - no pedestrian should leave a curb and walk or run into the path of a vehicle so close that it is impossible for the driver to stop.