SB 288 - This act allows a school bus driver to load or unload passengers without requiring other vehicles to stop if:

1) The bus is on a divided highway with four or more lanes;

2) The bus pulls off the main roadway;

3) The students do not have to cross any traffic lanes; and

4) The bus uses the emergency flashing lights while loading or unloading.

Drivers may pass a bus stopped in this way with caution.

Current law provides that a school bus driver may not stop on the road or highway proper to load or unload passengers unless the bus is visible to other drivers for at least three hundred feet in either direction. The act increases the visibility requirement to five hundred feet in either direction on any highway with no shoulder and a speed limit greater than fifty-five miles per hour.

OTTO FAJEN