CHP School bus safety enforcement operation in South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - California Highway Patrol officers will be riding on local school buses on September 24 during a state-wide school bus pedestrian safety enforcement operation.

Motorists across the state continue to disobey the law requiring them to stop for a school bus with its flashing red lights activated and stop arm extended. During a one-day survey in 2016 of 137 school districts in California, over 26,000 motorists failed to stop for a school bus that was stopped to load or unload pupils.

The California Association of School Transportation Officials reached out to the California Highway Patrol for assistance concerning school bus pedestrian safety.

During the enforcement operations, CHP officers will ride as passengers on school buses and actively watch for motorists who fail to stop for a school bus with its flashing red lights activated and stop arm extended (if equipped). The officers will be in communication with CHP patrol vehicles in the proximity of the school bus. Drivers who are observed illegally passing a school bus during the safety operation will be stopped by an officer and issued a warning or traffic citation.

This project is designed to educate and remind motorists, parents, and students of the importance of school bus pedestrian safety. This message will be conveyed by distributing school bus pedestrian safety tip cards; posters displayed at schools; and in video clips on social media.

The CHP reminds all drivers, when a school bus flashes red lights (located at the top front and back of the bus), you must stop from either direction until the children are safely across the street and the lights stop flashing. The law requires you remain stopped as long as the red lights are flashing. If you fail to stop, you may be fined up to $1,000, and your driving privilege could be suspended for one year. Yellow flashing lights on a school bus warn a driver to slow down and prepare to stop. If the school bus is on the other side of a divided or multilane highway (two or more lanes in each direction), you do not need to stop.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.