Ask Your Local Police Officer: Do I Have to Stop for a School Bus on a Divided Highway?

By Sgt. Chris Parise,
Jackson Township Police Department

With school back in session, one of the most commonly asked questions I get asked is do I have to stop for a school bus, which is stopped on the opposite side of the roadway with its red lights activated, when the road is separated by a concrete island, like on West or North County Line Road.
The answer for this question comes directly out of New Jersey Motor Vehicle and Traffic Laws (Title 39) under 39:4-128.1 Just to review, the driver of a vehicle approaching or overtaking a bus on a roadway with no physical separations, which has stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any child, shall stop not less than 25 feet from the school bus.

On roadways having dual or multiple roadways separated by safety islands or physical traffic separation islands (like West or North County Line Roads) the driver of a vehicle traveling in the same direction behind the bus must stop as stated above, not less than 25 feet from the school bus.
In the same set of circumstances, however approaching the school bus (opposite side of the median) shall reduce the speed of his vehicle to no more than 10 mph and shall not resume normal speed until the vehicle has passed the school bus.

“Ask your local police officer a question” is a new series that will attempt to answer commonly asked questions regarding motor vehicle law, criminal law, or simply a question about your police department.

If you have a question for Sgt. Parise, please post it here and we’ll forward it to him.

Posted by Ocean County News on Oct 24 2012. Filed under Fire & Safety, Jackson, Police Blotter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.