I Accidentally Passed a Stopped School Bus (What to Do)

A school bus is what takes school children to school. Because they are children with delicate minds, laws are made to protect them from careless drivers and ensure their safety.

Passing a school bus when you’re not supposed to do so can come with different penalties depending on your jurisdiction and the nature of the incident.

However, the penalty is often higher when it is a repeated offense within a short period, or when the incident leads to the death of a student, and often lower when it does not. Therefore, what happens if you accidentally pass a stopped school bus?

If you accidentally pass a stopped school bus when the stop sign is extended and the flashing light is on, you will be cited and a ticket will be sent to your mail.

I Accidentally Passed a Stopped School Bus

I accidentally passed a stopped school bus on September 8, 2023, without knowing. By the time I realized myself, I’d already passed the bus. It was my personal experience that prompted me to write this article.

On that faithful day, I was going to the mall after I argued with my sister. She had done something bad to me that hurt me so much. With that anger, I stormed out of the house and went to the mall. I was full of anger and passed a school bus without knowing.

To be honest, I can’t explain how it happened because it was like a movie to me. How I didn’t see the bus with the flashing light is what I don’t know. I was cited and got a ticket in my mail after 13 days.

With that being said, the consequences of passing a stopped school bus whether by mistake or not may vary from state to state. Therefore, when you accidentally pass a stopped school bus, you will be cited for that. The school bus driver will report the incident to the authorities and a ticket will be sent to you by mail.

Provided the school bus driver reported the incident to the authorities, you must be penalized. It doesn’t matter whether you did it by mistake or not. As a matter of fact, you’re not supposed to accidentally pass a stopped school bus.

As a driver, you’re supposed to know the law regarding driving especially when it comes to school buses. You are supposed to know when to pass a school bus and when not to. You’re supposed to know the essence of the rules concerning school buses. Knowing all these will help you not to make the same mistakes I made.

You can’t base your argument on the ground that it was an accident, because on a normal ground, you’re not supposed to do so. Saying I accidentally passed a stopped school bus may incur more fines for you.

Imagine fighting a school bus ticket on the ground of a mistake, your driver’s license may be suspended in the process. You can’t get a school bus ticket dismissed on such grounds.

If you have accidentally passed a stop school bus, tell us how it happened in the comment section of this article so that others can learn from your mistake. Also, don’t forget to comment on how you were able to get out of the situation. Were you fined or charged to court?

What Happens When I Accidentally Passed a Stopped School Bus?

Here is what could happen if you accidentally pass a stopped school bus:

1. The Camera Will Capture the Incident

When you pass a stopped school bus, whether accidentally or purposely, the camera in the school bus will capture the incident. This is possible because most school buses come with cameras that record both inside and outside of the bus. The bus will get a clear picture/video of the violation.

2. The Bus Driver will Report the Violation

When you pass a stopped school bus accidentally, the school bus driver will report the incident to the appropriate authorities for penalties. This is because it is the duty of school bus drivers to report such incident

However, if the school bus driver fails to report the incident within 48 hours of the incident occurring, you may likely not be penalized. However, it is rare for such to happen.

Because of the sensitivity of the whole scenario, school bus drivers always report the incident with the hope of learning their lesson when they are penalized.

3. You Will be Fined

After the bus driver reports the incident to the appropriate authorities, they will process the ticket and have it sent to you by mail.

The longer the ticket takes to get your mail depends on how long it took the processing agency to have the mail ready and sent to your mail.

However, the fact remains that, whether your action was accidental or purposeful, you will be cited and may end up paying a huge amount of money.

4. You May be Jailed

You may be jailed for accidentally passing a stop school bus if the incident leads to the death of a student. You can be charged with a felony or misdemeanor if a student dies as a result of your action.

The same happens if the incident leads to a crash or a student injuring himself or herself. Failure to pay the fine can also lead to bad consequences.

5. Your License Maybe Suspended

If you accidentally pass a stopped school bus, your driver’s license may be suspended especially if you’re used to doing so.

If they notice that you’re fond of repeating the same offense, your driver’s license could be suspended to avoid killing any student. You can’t keep repeating the same offense over and over and call it an accident.

Your license can also be suspended if your action leads to the death of a student or injures a student.

Therefore, the best thing to do is always be alert when driving, know the driving rules, and know when to pass a school bus whether stopped or not. Doing this will help you be a better driver and prevent you from passing a school bus when the stop sign is out.

6. Points on Your Driving Record

When you accidentally pass a stopped school bus you may not get a point on your record, at least not the first time offense, but according to the laws of your state of residence, when you accidentally pass a stopped school bus in less than 1 year you were convicted of the same offense, 2 – 8 points will be added to your record.

It doesn’t matter whether you did it by accident or not. It is one thing to commit an offense and get punished for that, it is another thing to repeat the same offense after a few months of being convicted of the same offense. Saying “I accidentally passed a stopped school bus” won’t help the matter.

7. Community Service

Before you can be punished with hours of community service, you must have accidentally repeated the offense a few months after the previous violation. The hours of community service that will be given to you depend on your state of residence, the nature of the incident, and the judge. You may be asked to conduct community service in school.

8. Misdemeanor Charges

Some states consider passing a school bus a class A or C misdemeanor and comes with a heavy fine. It won’t matter if your actions were based on an accident or not. As a driver, you were supposed to prevent such accidents from happening

If you wish to know the consequences of passing a stopped school bus and the ticket prices in your state of residence, check our guide on the penalties of passing a stopped school bus with a flashing light. The guide contains all the states in the U.S. and the penalty/fine they give for passing a school bus when you should not have.

How to Avoid Passing a Stopped School Bus

To avoid passing a stopped school bus, you should:

• Know the driving rules that revolve around school buses in your state of residence
• Be watchful when driving, don’t be a distracted driver.
• Know when to pass the school bus and when not to
• Know what the stop sign on the school bus means and how it works
• Know what the flashing lights on the school bus are and how it works.
• Know the consequences of passing a stopped school bus

These are important because before a school bus driver comes to a stop to either pick up a student or to disembark them, he/she must have turned the flashing lights on some meters before the stop. So arguing not seeing the warning light will be a baseless argument.

What to Do If I Accidentally Pass a Stopped School Bus

If you accidentally pass a stopped school bus when the stop sign and flashing lights are on, remain calm and wait for your punishment. There’s nothing much you can do except wait for the ticket to arrive in your mail and hopefully pay the necessary fines that come with it.

However, you can fight a school bus ticket if you have every good reason to. There are high chances that the ticket will not be dismissed but if your reasons are legitimate such as a technical error from the car that is not your fault or a stuck brake caliper, etc., you can base your argument on that, if you’re lucky, you may have the ticket dismissed.

Conclusion

Accidentally passing a stopped school bus when the stop sign and flashing warning lights are on will incur a ticket that will be sent to your mail after the bus driver reports the incident.

The only way you can violate a school bus rule and not be ticketed is if the school bus driver fails to report the incident. Be that as it may, school bus drivers rarely fail to do so. They always report such incidents using the video or picture footage recorded by the cameras on the school bus as evidence.