Minnesota legislators passed a new school bus safety law by a 133-0 vote in the house and 67-0 in the senate in March to close some safety loopholes. It was the first bill of this legislative session to pass.
Stopping for school busses allowed for some gray area in the wording that drivers shall stop when busses are “… displaying extended stop signal arm and flashing red lights.” This left the door open for people faced with a fine to argue that the arm was not extended or not fully yet when they passed.
The change in the law removes that wording so that the stop sign being extended is no longer a part of it. The new law states that drivers must stop if red lights are flashing on the school bus and must not move until they are no longer flashing.
In addition to that...
Law changes on how vehicles stop for school busses
By:
Jarrod Schoenecker, editor@montgomerymnnews.com