(a) Whenever a school bus is stopped on a highway or road in a residential area with its visual signals actuated as described in subsection (g), the driver of any motor vehicle on the same highway or road in a residential area in the lane occupied by the school bus and all lanes adjacent to the lane occupied by the school bus, regardless of the direction of traffic in those lanes, shall stop the driver’s vehicle not less than twenty feet from the school bus and shall not proceed until the school bus resumes motion and the visual signals are turned off.
Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-95
Bus: means every motor vehicle designed for carrying more than ten passengers and used for the transportation of persons; and every motor vehicle, other than a school bus or a taxicab, designed and used for the transportation of persons for compensation. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-1
Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained and those private streets, as defined in § 46-16, over which the application of this chapter has been extended by ordinance, when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-1
Motor vehicle: means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power but not operated upon rails but excludes a moped. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-1
School bus: means every motor vehicle as defined in § 286-181 and any regulations promulgated pursuant thereto by the department of education. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-1
Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-1
Vehicle: means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a roadway or highway, including mopeds and bicycles, but excluding toy bicycles, devices other than bicycles moved by human power, and devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-1
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to a vehicle when the school bus and the vehicle are on different roadways; except that where a highway or road in a residential area has been divided into two or more lanes by an intervening space, a physical barrier, or a clearly indicated dividing section, subsection (a) shall apply to all drivers of motor vehicles in all lanes on the same side as a school bus which is stopped with visual signals actuated as required under subsection (c).(c) The driver of the school bus shall actuate the visual signals described in subsection (g) only when the school bus is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging school children.(d) The front and rear of every school bus shall be marked with the words “SCHOOL BUS” in plainly visible letters not less than eight inches in height and strokes not less than three-fourths of an inch in width.(e) No vehicle, other than a school bus, shall display a “SCHOOL BUS” sign.(f) When a school bus is being operated upon a highway for purposes other than as an incident to the transportation of children, all marking thereon indicating “SCHOOL BUS” shall be covered or concealed.(g) The visual signals actuated as required under subsection (c) shall consist of four red signal lamps meeting the following requirements:
(1) Two lamps shall face forward and two shall face the rear;(2) The two forward lamps shall flash alternately and shall be mounted at the same level, but as high and as widely spaced as practical;(3) The two rear lamps shall flash alternately and shall be mounted at the same level but as high and as widely spaced as practical; and(4) Each of the lamps shall be of sufficient intensity as to be plainly visible at a distance of five hundred feet in normal sunlight and shall be capable of being actuated from the driver’s seat by a single switch.(h) Any person who violates this section shall be fined not more than $500 or sentenced to perform community service, or both; provided that any person who violates subsection (a) on a state highway shall be fined not more than $1,000 or sentenced to perform community service, or both.
