The School Bus on a Two-Lane Road With a Turn Lane
You are driving east on a two-lane road with one lane in each direction and a continuous two-way left-turn lane in the center. The speed limit is 35 mph and you are traveling at 33 mph. Ahead, a school bus traveling west stops and activates its red flashing lights and stop arm. The bus is on the opposite side of the road. Between you and the bus is the center two-way left-turn lane, about 12 feet wide. There are no physical barriers or medians - just painted lines. A car behind you is following at about one car length. You have a clear view for several hundred feet in both directions.
1. Must you stop for this school bus?
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Yes. On a two-lane road, traffic in both directions must stop for a school bus with red lights flashing and the stop arm extended, unless they are on a divided highway with a physical median or barrier separating the directions.
The center two-way left-turn lane does not count as a dividing median. It is a painted lane for turning, not a physical separation. So the fact that the bus is across that lane does not excuse you.
The correct action: stop before reaching the bus and remain stopped until the red lights stop flashing. The close-following car behind you is a reason to brake early and smoothly and to check your mirror, not a reason to continue.
2. The car behind you is tailgating at one car length. How does that change your approach to stopping?
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It does not change whether you stop - it changes how you stop.
- Brake early and progressively as soon as you see the red lights, so your brake lights give the follower maximum warning. A late, hard stop invites a rear-end collision.
- Leave extra room ahead of your own car when you come to rest, so that if you are hit from behind you have space to be pushed forward without hitting anything.
- Do not wave the follower around you. You cannot legally direct them to pass a stopped school bus, and doing so could cause them to run the bus's stop arm.
If the follower does not appear to be slowing, you still must stop for the bus; you may sound your horn briefly to warn them. The law requires the stop, and a rear-end collision is generally the following driver's fault, but you should minimize the risk.
3. Would your answer change if the road had a raised concrete median separating the directions?
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Yes. If the opposing directions were separated by a physical median or barrier - a raised concrete median, a grassy strip, or a similar physical divider - then traffic on the opposite side of the median would not be required to stop for the bus.
The distinction the exam tests is painted lines vs. physical separation. A two-way left-turn lane, double yellow line, or painted buffer is not a physical median. A raised or landscaped divider is.
In this scenario there is no physical median, so you must stop. If there were one, you could proceed with normal caution.