National School Bus Safety Week (October 16-20, 2023)
Lancaster County School District operates more than 80 school buses every day, covering 4,200 miles of routes in the county. Our drivers transport 8,000 children to and from school.
That’s why school bus safety is so important!
Putting kids’ lives at risk is not OK. Help us put our children first by learning the laws in our state.
South Carolina School Bus Law:
You must stop for the entire time a school bus is stopped or preparing to stop with its red or amber lights flashing or its stop arm extended. After the school bus’s red and/or amber lights have stopped flashing and the stop arm is no longer visible, proceed slowly, watching for children.
Law requires these actions whether you are meeting the school bus or traveling behind it under the following conditions:
- On any two-lane highway
- On any four-lane or multi-lane highway only when traveling behind a school bus.
- When attempting to pass a school bus that has red or amber signals flashing
You are required to stop for a stopped school bus when driving on a two-lane road. You do not have to stop around a school bus in the following circumstances:
- When the school bus is in a passenger loading zone completely off the main travel lanes and when pedestrians are not allowed to cross the roadway.
- A driver of a vehicle does not have to stop upon meeting a stopped school bus when traveling in the opposite direction on a multi-lane highway or multi-lane private road. A multi-lane highway or multi-lane private road is defined as a highway or private road that consists of four lanes, having at least two traffic lanes in each direction. You must always stop on any highway when you are behind the bus. When you have stopped, you must not proceed until the school bus moves or the red lights are no longer flashing.
SC Code Section 56-5-2770
For more information, please visit https://scdps.sc.gov/tz/backtoschoolsafety.