School buses — New York Permit Test
School buses on the New York permit test — 7 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
When a stopped school bus flashes its red lights, traffic approaching from either direction, even in front of the school and in school parking lots, must stop before it reaches the bus.
Children cross in front of the bus where a driver cannot see them. The stop is the whole rule.
When a stopped school bus flashes its red light(s), traffic that approaches from either direction, even in front of the school and in school parking lots, must stop before it reaches the bus.
A driver should stop at least 20 feet away from a stopped school bus.
The gap leaves room for a child who walks out from the front of the bus.
You should stop at least 20 feet (6 m) away from the bus.
Before a school bus stops to load or discharge passengers the driver will usually flash yellow warning lights on the front and back of the bus near the roof, and a driver who sees them should decrease speed and be prepared to stop.
Yellow is the warning that red is coming. Slowing then makes the stop easy.
Before a school bus stops to load or discharge passengers, the driver will usually flash yellow warning lights, which are located on the front and back of the bus near the roof.
When a driver has stopped for a school bus they cannot drive again until the bus starts moving, or until the bus driver or a traffic officer signals that they can proceed.
A child may still be crossing behind the bus. The signal says the crossing is finished.
When you stop for a school bus, you cannot drive again until the bus starts moving again or when the bus driver or a traffic officer signals that you can proceed.
A driver must stop for a school bus even if it is on the opposite side of a divided highway, and this law applies on all roadways in New York State.
A divider is no help to a child already in the road. New York sets one rule for every road.
You must stop for a school bus even if it is on the opposite side of a divided highway.
Vehicles that transport people with disabilities can be equipped as school buses, and a driver must stop for them as they would for other school buses.
The lights mean the same thing whoever is riding. The stop is owed to them too.
Remember that vehicles that transport people with disabilities can be equipped as school buses and you must stop for them as you would for other school buses.
Most school bus-related deaths and injuries occur while children cross the street after being discharged from the bus, rather than in collisions that involve school buses.
The danger is not the bus. It is the road the children walk across once they are off it.
Most school bus-related deaths and injuries occur while children cross the street after being discharged from the bus, not in collisions that involve school buses.
On the test
Who must stop when a school bus flashes its red lights?
Traffic from either direction. Children cross in front of the bus where a driver cannot see them. The stop is the whole rule. New York State Driver's Manual, p.40: “When a stopped school bus flashes its red light(s), traffic that approaches from either direction, even in front of the school and in school parking lots, must stop before it reaches the bus.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
What it costs
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
- Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
- Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against New York State Driver's Manual, published by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-15.