Tidelines

Most of the schools in the area will begin their fall session this Monday, August 19.

The bell times for the Charleston County Schools in our area are as follows:

When school starts, so will the school buses.  As annoying as it may be to get stuck behind a stopped bus, it is not worth it to pass it. The most important reason is that children are unpredictable and can dart out onto the road. Another reason is that the fines are large.

According to the South Carolina Department of Education, these are the rules when you approach a school bus:

• Yellow flashing lights indicate the bus is preparing to stop to load or unload children. Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop their vehicles.
• Red flashing lights and extended stop arm indicate that the bus has stopped and that children are getting on or off.
• A motorist on any highway that has only two travel lanes, one in each direction, must stop for the bus whether approaching from the front or overtaking from the rear and remain stopped until the lights are no longer activated or the bus resumes motion.
• Motorists traveling on multi-lane roadways (such as Betsy Kerrison Parkway), which have at least two lanes of travel in each direction, must stop for the bus if overtaking the bus from the rear and remain stopped until the lights are no longer activated or the bus resumes motion; however, motorists approaching a bus from the front, on this type of multi-lane roadway need not stop but proceed with caution.

Channel 2 News clarified a few of these points. The yellow flashing light means you don’t have time to get past the bus. According to state law, the yellow also means stop. The multi-lane roadway description above may or may not have a median.

Channel 2 News also said that the fines can run about $1,062.50 plus court costs plus 6 points against your license. They say if you pass a school bus a second time, the fine can be up to $10,000.  To see the full article from News 2, click here.

-Tidelines Editors

(Photo credit: Pixabay.com)