School bus owner and patrols — Minnesota Permit Test

The owner or lessee of a vehicle used to break the school bus stop arm law is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.

The plate is traceable even when the driver is not, so the law reaches the person who lent the car.

When your vehicle is used to violate the school bus stop arm law, you are guilty of a petty misdemeanor if you own or lease the vehicle.

Where the owner can show somebody else was driving, the driver is charged instead.

The rule is there to find the driver, not to punish a name on a registration.

However, if you can prove that another person was driving the vehicle at the time, the driver will be charged with the violation.

Signing a license application certifies that you understand the duty to stop for a school bus and the penalties for not doing so.

Nobody gets to say later that they did not know. The signature is where they were told.

When you apply for a driver’s license, you must certify, by signing the application, that you understand the requirement to stop for a school bus and are aware of the penalties for violating this law.

You must come to a complete stop for a student safety patrol helping schoolmates cross a street.

The patrol member is a child holding a sign, and the children behind them are already stepping out.

When you see a student safety patrol helping schoolmates cross a street or highway, you must come to a complete stop.

You must stop for adult crossing guards displaying a stop sign or flag.

The guard is standing in the road on the strength of that sign being obeyed.

You must also stop for adult crossing guards displaying a stop sign or flag.

Driving through a line of children crossing the road is illegal even where no safety patrol is present.

A gap in a line of children is not a gap. There are more of them on both sides of it.

It is illegal to drive through a line of children crossing the road, even if a school safety patrol is not present.

You must stop for a school bus flagger and stay stopped until the flagger or a police officer directs you on.

The flagger is moving buses out of a school lot, and the timing is theirs rather than yours.

After being stopped by a school bus flagger, you may not proceed until directed to do so by the flagger or a police officer.

Who is liable when a vehicle breaks the stop arm law and the driver is unknown?

The owner or lessee of the vehicle. The plate is traceable even when the driver is not, so the law reaches the person who lent the car. Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.43: “When your vehicle is used to violate the school bus stop arm law, you are guilty of a petty misdemeanor if you own or lease the vehicle.”