School Laws of Oklahoma
Chapter 11 - Transportation
Article I: School Buses
Section 1017. School Bus - Overtaking and Passing - Markings. (47 O.S. § 11-705)
A. The driver of a vehicle meeting or overtaking a school bus that is stopped to take on or discharge school children, and on which the red loading signals are in operation, is to stop the vehicle before it reaches the school bus and not proceed until the loading signals are deactivated and then proceed past such school bus at a speed which is reasonable and with due caution for the safety of such school children and other occupants. Any person convicted of violating the provisions of this subsection shall be punished by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
B. Visual signals, meeting the requirements of Section 12-228 of this title, shall be actuated by the driver of said school bus whenever, but only whenever, such vehicle is stopped on the highway for the purpose of receiving or discharging school children.
C. The driver of a vehicle upon a highway with separate roadways need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus which is on a different roadway or when upon a controlled-access highway and the school bus is stopped in a loading zone which is a part of or adjacent to such highway and where pedestrians are not permitted to cross the roadway.
D. If the driver of a school bus witnesses a violation of the provisions of subsection A of this section, within twenty-four (24) hours of the alleged offense, the driver shall report the violation, the vehicle color, license tag number, and the time and place such violation occurred to the law enforcement authority of the municipality where the violation occurred. The law enforcement authority of a municipality shall issue a letter of warning on the alleged violation to the person in whose name the vehicle is registered. The Office of the Attorney General shall provide a form letter to each municipal law enforcement agency in this state for the issuance of the warning provided for in this subsection. Such form letter shall be used by each such law enforcement agency in the exact form provided for by the Office of the Attorney General. A warning letter issued pursuant to this subsection shall not be recorded on the driving record of the person to whom such letter was issued. Issuance of a warning letter pursuant to this section shall not preclude the imposition of other penalties as provided by law.
Section 1017.1. School Buses - Audible and Visual Signals on Vehicles. (47 O.S. § 12-218)
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B. Every school bus used for transportation of school children and every authorized emergency vehicle shall, in addition to any other equipment and distinctive markings required by this act, be equipped with signal lamps mounted as high and as widely spaced laterally as practicable, which shall be capable of displaying to the front two alternately flashing red, or for authorized emergency vehicles, flashing red or blue lights or a combination of flashing red and blue lights located at the same level, and these lights shall have sufficient intensity to be visible at five hundred (500) feet in normal sunlight or, as an alternative, authorized emergency vehicles may use one red or blue signal lamp so located at or near the top of the vehicle which when lighted is visible for a distance of five hundred (500) feet in normal sunlight both to the front and to the rear of the vehicle.
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D. The use of the signal equipment described herein shall impose upon drivers of other vehicles the obligation to yield right-of-way and stop as prescribed in Sections 11-405 and 11-705 of this title.
E. It shall be unlawful for any person to use a device capable of producing auditory warning signals similar to an emergency vehicle or to use audible signal equipment from a motor vehicle for the purpose of causing any other motor vehicle operator to yield right-of-way and stop, or which actually causes any other motor vehicle operator to yield the right-of-way and stop, whether intended or not. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to vehicles of any fire department, fire patrol, law enforcement vehicles, ambulances, or other authorized emergency vehicles.
Section 1018. School Buses - Lighting Equipment - Warning Devices. (47 O.S. § 12-228)
A. The Commissioner of Public Safety and the State Board of Education are authorized to adopt standards and specifications applicable to lighting equipment on and special warning devices to be carried by school buses consistent with the provisions of this chapter, but supplemental thereto. Such standards and specifications shall correlate with and, so far as possible, conform to the specifications then current as approved by the Society of Automotive Engineers. During the time any school bus is operating, the school bus shall have its headlights activated.
B. It shall be unlawful to operate any red flashing warning signal light on any school bus except when any said school bus is stopped on a highway for the purpose of permitting school children to board or alight from said school bus.
C. It shall be unlawful to operate any red flashing warning signal light on any church bus as defined in Section 11-705.1 of this title, except when any said bus is stopped on a highway for the purpose of permitting passengers to board or alight from said bus.
School Laws of Oklahoma | Chapter 11 - Transportation | Article I: School Buses | Return to Top of Page
Section 1019. Converted School Buses - Color. (47 O.S. § 12-102)
School buses converted for purposes other than transporting pupils to or from school shall be painted a color other than national glossy yellow. The loading lights shall be disconnected, except for buses purchased for use by religious organizations as defined in Section 1 of this act.
Section 1019.1. Public Transit Drivers – Certain Communications Prohibited. (47 O.S. § 11-901c)
A. It shall be unlawful for a public transit driver to operate a motor vehicle on any street or highway within this state while using a cellular telephone or electronic communication device to write, send, or read a text-based communication while the motor vehicle is in motion.
B. Any person who violates the provisions of subsection A of this section shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
C. As used in this section:
1. “Cellular telephone” means an analog or digital wireless telephone authorized by the Federal Communications Commission to operate in the frequency bandwidth reserved for cellular telephones;
2. “Electronic communication device” means an electronic device that permits the user to manually transmit a communication of written text by means other than through an oral transfer or wire communication. This term does not include a voice-activated global positioning or navigation system that is affixed to a motor vehicle; and
3. “Public transit driver” means:
a. any operator of a public transit vehicle owned and operated by the State of Oklahoma, any public trust authority, county, municipality, town or city within this state,
b. any operator of a school bus or multi-passenger motor vehicle owned and approved to operate by the State Department of Education or any school district within this state, or
c. any operator, conductor or driver of a locomotive engine, railway car or train of cars.
D. This act shall not apply to railroads and railroad operating employees regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration.
Section 1020. School Buses and Other Vehicles - Obstruction to Driver’s View and Driving Mechanism - Overcrowding. (47 O.S. § 11-1104)
(a) No person shall drive a vehicle when it is so loaded, or when there are in the front seat such number of persons, exceeding three (3), as to obstruct the view of the driver to the front or sides of the vehicle or as to interfere with the driver’s control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle.
(b) No passenger in a vehicle shall ride in such position as to interfere with the driver’s view ahead or to the sides or to interfere with his control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle
(c) No school bus shall be operated on the streets or highways in this State when loaded with passengers in excess of the number for which such bus is designed to carry. The number of passengers determined by the local school board which the bus is designed to carry shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the bus.
Section 1021. Transportation of School Children Exempt from Motor Carrier Regulation Act. (47 O.S. § 240.3)
As used in the Motor Carrier Act of 1995:
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6. “Motor carrier of persons or property” means any person, except a carrier of household goods or used emigrant movables, operating upon any public highway for the transportation of passengers or property for compensation or for hire or for commercial purposes, and not operating exclusively within the limits of an incorporated city or town within this state. Provided, the provisions of the Motor Carrier Act of 1995 shall not apply to * * * any person or governmental authority furnishing transportation for school children to and from public schools or to and from public-school-related extracurricular activities under contract with, and sponsored by, a public school board; provided, that motor vehicles and equipment operated for the purposes shall qualify in all respects for the transportation of school children under the Oklahoma School Code and the rules of the State Board of Education adopted pursuant thereto. Provided, this exemption shall apply only to such vehicles while they are being used for such transportation. * * *
School Laws of Oklahoma | Chapter 11 - Transportation | Article I: School Buses | Return to Top of Page
