​Uniontown, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) wants to remind motorists of the School Bus Stopping Law and their responsibilities as motorists.

Each day, 1.5 million children are transported to school on Pennsylvania roads, traveling approximately 400 million miles on school buses each year.

“Every year, children are needlessly injured or killed by drivers passing stopped school buses,” said PennDOT Assistant District Executive-Design Rachel Duda. “Our children’s safety is in your hands. Please slow down, pay attention, and follow the law, especially in school zones and around school buses.”

Pennsylvania’s School Bus Stopping Law:

• When you meet or overtake a stopped school bus with red signal lights flashing and stop arm extended, you MUST STOP.

• When you approach an intersection where a school bus is stopped with red signal lights flashing and stop arm extended, you MUST STOP.

• You MUST STOP at least ten (10) feet away from the school bus.

• You MUST WAIT until the red lights have stopped flashing and the stop arm has been withdrawn before moving.

• DO NOT MOVE until all the children have reached a place of safety.

To further promote safety, school vehicles may be equipped with a yellow flashing or revolving light.

If you are convicted of violating Pennsylvania’s School Bus Stopping Law, you will receive all the following penalties:

• 60-Day Driver’s License Suspension

• Five (5) points on your driving record

• $250 Fine (If a school bus is equipped with a side stop arm enforcement system and you pass a school bus with its red lights flashing, you could receive a $300 fine in the mail.)

Annually, more than 700 drivers are convicted for passing a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing.

For more information on school bus safety, visit www.PennDOT.gov/Safety.

PennDOT’s media center offers resources for safety organizations, community groups, or others who share safety information with their stakeholders. Social-media-sized graphics highlighting topics such as school bus safety can be found online in PennDOT’s Media Center.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts.

Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties at www.PennDOT.gov/District12.

Follow local PennDOT information on Twitter or Facebook.

MEDIA CONTACT: Melissa Maczko, 724-439-7340 or mmaczko@pa.gov

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