Loading and Unloading Students
What this domain covers
This domain tests the loading and unloading sequence that protects students in the “danger zone” around the bus. The examiner looks for a fixed procedure: secure the bus, activate the red lights and stop arm, control students, account for every child, and release the bus only when all are clear. Maryland passing law matters because your safety depends on whether approaching traffic is legally required to stop.
Core rules
- Stop in a safe place, set the parking brake, place the transmission in park or neutral, and activate alternately flashing red lights and the stop arm.
- Keep students seated until the bus is fully stopped and you give the signal.
- Students who must cross the road cross only after your hand signal, walk at least 10 feet in front of the bus, and make eye contact with you.
- Count students before unloading and after unloading; sweep the danger zone with mirrors and a visual check.
- Deactivate the red lights and stop arm only after all students are clear and traffic has been checked.
- On an undivided road, Maryland drivers approaching from either direction must stop for your red lights; on a divided highway with a median, opposing traffic may not be required to stop, so verify every lane.
Worked example
A student's stop is on the left side of a two-lane road. You stop, set the brake, activate red lights and stop arm, and check that traffic in both directions has stopped. You signal the student to wait, then to cross at least 10 feet ahead of the bumper. The student looks both ways and crosses. You count the student safely on the shoulder before canceling the lights.
Traps that cost marks
Waving a student across before traffic is stopped; letting a student cross behind the bus; deactivating lights while a child is still in the danger zone; and forgetting the after-unloading count. If a student drops an item, do not let the child retrieve it - tell the child to leave it and report it.