School travel involves pedestrians, cyclists, buses, and drivers; the rules for approaching a stopped school bus depend on the bus signals, roadway, direction of travel, and statutory exception.

Read the current statute

North Carolina G.S. 20-217 requires a driver approaching a properly marked school bus displaying its mechanical stop signal or flashing red lights while stopped to receive or discharge passengers to stop and remain stopped as the statute provides. Subsection (c) describes an exception for a driver traveling in the opposite direction on a roadway divided in the manner the statute specifies.

Safety and fact questions after an event

  • The bus signals, location, roadway design, direction of travel, speed, lighting, and weather
  • Photos, video, report information, vehicle information, and witness contact details
  • Any medical or emergency-response records, kept separately from a conclusion about fault
  • The exact statute, notice, or citation rather than a remembered penalty or general online summary

The related North Carolina pedestrian safety guide explains separate crossing and roadway duties. Questions arising from a Charlotte car-accident claim should be evaluated from the relevant records and circumstances.

Source