School bus yellow lights — Minnesota Permit Test

School buses have yellow and red lights that flash alternately to warn drivers they are stopping for students.

The lights are a countdown: yellow while the bus slows, red once children are on the road.

School buses have yellow and red lights that flash alternately to warn drivers they are stopping to load or unload students.

A bus driver activates flashing yellow lights at least 100 feet before stopping in a zone posted at 35 mph or less.

A hundred feet at 30 mph is about two seconds of warning, which is what it takes to lift off the gas.

Bus drivers will activate flashing yellow lights at least 100 feet before a school bus stops in a speed zone of 35 mph or less.

In a zone posted above 35 mph, the yellow lights come on at least 300 feet before the bus stops.

Faster traffic needs more room, so the warning starts three times as far back.

They will activate the lights at least 300 feet before it stops in a speed zone of more than 35 mph.

It is against the law to pass on the right of a school bus displaying red or yellow flashing lights.

The right side is where the door is, and where the children step out.

It is against the law to pass on the right side of a school bus while it is displaying red or yellow flashing lights.

What do a school bus’s flashing lights warn drivers about?

That it is stopping to load or unload students. The lights are a countdown: yellow while the bus slows, red once children are on the road. Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.41: “School buses have yellow and red lights that flash alternately to warn drivers they are stopping to load or unload students.”