Now that schools are back in session, I’d love to have a refresher on when I need to stop for school buses. Frequently I travel on Northeast 112th Avenue, which has two lanes in each direction and a center turn lane. If I’m travelling in the same direction as the bus, I stop, whether I’m directly behind the bus or not. When I’m traveling in the opposite direction of the bus, I don’t think I need to stop, but many people do. Any guidance on the rules for that type of street in particular, and other streets generally, would be much appreciated.
— Donna Aase, Fircrest Neighborhood
Congratulations, Donna, you are on the right track. If the road is a big one — with three or more lanes or with a substantial median separating the directions of traffic — you needn’t stop if you are going the opposite way from the bus.
Your confusion is understandable, though. If you’re a responsible driver, you’ve probably absorbed what seems like an ironclad law of driving life: When a school bus stops, you stop. That’s what all those other drivers are doing, and their caution is laudable. (We tend not to hear much about drivers being too careful, do we?) But it turns out that laws in many states — including Washington — aren’t quite that simple.
The Washington law governing this matter is RCW 46.61.370, and the handiest way to take a look at it is via the Washington Traffic Safety Commission website, http://www.wtsc.wa.gov/traffic-laws. Here’s a summary of its first three sections, aimed at drivers sharing the road with school buses (and written in deeply lawyerly gobbledegook, so you’re welcome for the English translation).
