USA Bus Lines

What is the law in TX regarding passing a school bus?

We used to live in MD where if the school bus was stopped (loading or unloading children with flashers on) on the OTHER SIDE of a divided highway, you did not have to stop. On the one occassion I've encountered this situation since we've been in Texas, I continued but the person behind me stopped. Did I mess up?

Public Comments

1. Here, in Texas, we stop on both sides for the bus. I don't know if it's a law, but everywhere I've been in this state, everyone has always stopped on both sides.
2. Yes you did. Here in Tx you must stop
3. Yes, you did, you must stop on both sides of the road when the bus is stopped with flashing lights, loading or unloading children.
4. I have noticed the same thing in Texas. Even on a divided highway I see traffic stopping in both directions when the bus puts on the flashers. It does seem odd to me that you would be required to stop if you were headed in the opposite direction on a divided highway but it seems odd to me as well that both directions of traffic come to halt during a funeral procession. Texas is by far the screwiest state in the union. How about the on and off ramps to the highways? Can you believe Civil Engineers from Texas A&M designed them?
5. If a road is divided only by a left-turning lane, drivers on both sides of the roadway must stop for school buses with alternating red flashing lights activated. However, if the lanes are separated by an intervening space or physical barrier, only motorists going in the same direction as the bus are required to stop.
6. § 545.066. PASSING A SCHOOL BUS; OFFENSE. (a) An operator on a highway, when approaching from either direction a school bus stopped on the highway to receive or discharge a student: (1) shall stop before reaching the school bus when the bus is operating a visual signal as required by Section 547.701; and (2) may not proceed until: (A) the school bus resumes motion; (B) the operator is signaled by the bus driver to proceed; or (C) the visual signal is no longer actuated. (b) An operator on a highway having separate roadways is not required to stop: (1) for a school bus that is on a different roadway; (1) a highway is considered to have separate roadways only if the highway has roadways separated by an intervening space on which operation of vehicles is not permitted, a physical barrier, or a clearly indicated dividing section constructed to impede vehicular traffic;
7. You must stop on BOTH sides of the highway when there is a bus with Flashing Lights on. It's a $500.00 citation. Period, no excuses.
8. Always stop for a school bus./