![]() If convicted, you will receive 5 points on your license. If you are found guilty of a ticket for passing a school bus while the lights are flashing, your fines will range from $250-$400 for the first violation, $600-$750 for the second (within 3 years) and a third can result in a $750-$1000 fine. Additionally, you must stop at least 20 feet away from the bus. Please note that there is no judge that will accept ignorance of the law as a defense. However, some people do not know that you must stop even on a divided or multi-lane road or highway. ![]() Most people know that you cannot pass a bus when children are getting on or off and the lights are flashing. Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding the unlawful passing of a school bus.Passing a school bus is a very serious violation with serious consequences if you are found guilty. I commonly see these cases in the City of Atlanta Municipal Court, Smyrna Municipal Court, Cobb County State Court, Sandy Springs Municipal Court, Roswell Municipal Court, and Marietta Municipal Court. It is important to evaluate that evidence because there are defenses to this violation based on the buses equipment, road conditions, and other factors. Once charged with one of these violations, there is often video evidence, either from the school bus itself or the officer who cited you. A violation of this statute will be on your driving history. Criminal violations of this statute are six point offenses which often involve large fines on top of the points. If you are caught by a police officer passing a school bus while it is loading or unloading, you can be given a criminal citation. This civil penalty is a fine, which will increase if someone is found to have violated the unlawful passing of a school bus statute multiple times. A civil penalty will usually be mailed to a driver when the bus driver or a buses camera catches a driver passing the bus. There are two types of penalties for passing a school bus, civil and criminal. Once stopped, drivers cannot continue until all illuminated lights and signs have ended and the bus continues moving. This exception does not apply to drivers on the same side of the road as the school bus. If a center turning lane exists, you must stop from each direction. A turning lane or other paved roadway area that separates a road is not part of the exception. There is an exception to stopping when coming from the other direction the bus is facing when a grass median, unpaved area, or other barrier separates the roadway. Passing a school bus from either direction after these things have occurred is a serious violation under the Georgia Uniform Rules of the Road. Official Code of Georgia 40-6-163 states “the driver of a vehicle meeting or overtaking from either direction any school bus stopped on the highway shall stop before reaching such school bus when there are in operation on the school bus the visual signals as specified in Code Sections 40-8-111 and 40-8-115, and such driver shall not proceed until the school bus resumes motion or the visual signals are no longer actuated.” This means that a driver on any road must stop when the buses red lights turn on, and the stop sign and bar are extended.
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