60-6,175. School bus; safety requirements; use of stop signal arm; use of warning signal lights; violations; penalty.

(1) Upon meeting or overtaking, from the front or rear, any school bus on which the yellow warning signal lights are flashing, the driver of a motor vehicle shall reduce the speed of such vehicle to not more than twenty-five miles per hour, shall bring such vehicle to a complete stop when the school bus is stopped, the stop signal arm is extended, and the flashing red signal lights are turned on, and shall remain stopped until the flashing red signal lights are turned off, the stop signal arm is retracted, and the school bus resumes motion. This section shall not apply to approaching traffic in the opposite direction on a divided highway or to approaching traffic when there is displayed a sign as provided in subsection (8) of this section directing traffic to proceed. Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a Class IV misdemeanor, shall be fined five hundred dollars, and shall be assessed points on his or her motor vehicle operator's license pursuant to section 60-4,182.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (8) of this section, the driver of any school bus, when stopping to receive or discharge pupils, shall turn on flashing yellow warning signal lights at a distance of not less than three hundred feet when inside the corporate limits of any city or village and not less than five hundred feet nor more than one thousand feet in any area outside the corporate limits of any city or village from the point where such pupils are to be received or discharged from the bus. At the point of receiving or discharging pupils, the bus driver shall bring the school bus to a stop, extend a stop signal arm, and turn on the flashing red signal lights. After receiving or discharging pupils, the bus driver shall turn off the flashing red signal lights, retract the stop signal arm, and then proceed on the route.

(3)(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of this subsection, no school bus shall stop to load or unload pupils outside of the corporate limits of any city or village or on any part of the state highway system within the corporate limits of a city or village, unless there is at least four hundred feet of clear vision in each direction of travel.

(b) If four hundred feet of clear vision in each direction of travel is not possible as determined by the school district, a school bus may stop to load or unload pupils if there is proper signage installed indicating that a school bus stop is ahead.

(4) All pupils shall be received and discharged from the right front entrance of every school bus. If such pupils must cross a roadway, the bus driver shall instruct such pupils to cross in front of the school bus and the bus driver shall keep such school bus halted with the flashing red signal lights turned on and the stop signal arm extended until such pupils have reached the opposite side of such roadway.

(5) The driver of a vehicle upon a divided highway need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus which is on a different roadway or when upon a freeway and such school bus is stopped in a loading zone which is a part of or adjacent to such highway and where pedestrians are not permitted to cross the roadway.

(6) Every school bus shall bear upon the front and rear thereof plainly visible signs containing the words school bus in letters not less than eight inches high.

(7) When a school bus is being operated upon a highway for purposes other than the actual transportation of children either to or from school or school-sponsored activities, all markings thereon indicating school bus shall be covered or concealed. The stop signal arm and system of flashing yellow warning signal lights and flashing red signal lights shall not be operable through the usual controls.

(8) When a school bus is (a) parked in a designated school bus loading area which is out of the flow of traffic and which is adjacent to a school site or (b) parked on a roadway which possesses more than one lane of traffic flowing in the same direction and which is adjacent to a school site, the bus driver shall engage only the hazard warning flasher lights when receiving or discharging pupils if a school bus loading area warning sign is displayed. Such signs shall not be directly attached to any school bus but shall be free standing and placed at the rear of a parked school bus or line of parked school buses. No school district shall utilize a school bus loading area warning sign unless such sign complies with the manual. The manual shall include the requirements for size, material, construction, and required wording. The cost of any sign shall be an obligation of the school district.

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