School bus traffic stop laws

An officer must witness the violation, and even when citations issued, getting convictions is often difficult;[12] sometimes traffic courts consider the evidence insufficient, or reduce the charge because the penalty for a first offense seems excessive.

[17] Drivers in Idaho[18] and Kentucky[19] are not required to stop for a school bus on any highway with four or more lanes when traveling in the opposite direction, even if the only divider is a double yellow line.

[22][23] In New York State, an official estimate is that 50,000 vehicles pass stopped school buses illegally every day.

On a national basis, school bus drivers in the United States have reported a decrease in passing violators in recent years with improved warning devices.

Despite an increase in traffic and school bus ridership, annual fatalities and injuries to children struck by other vehicles has decreased as well.

In New Zealand, the New Zealand Transport Agency decided that the speed limit passing a stopped school bus should not be raised based on probabilities of pedestrian deaths if hit at different speeds, nor has it supported requiring fully stopping and waiting for school buses loading and unloading children as in the United States and Canada.

While in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom, drivers are directed to drive carefully past stopped school buses.