It’s universal knowledge that motorists must stop when approaching a school bus with its stop sign extended and red lights flashing.
But not as many know they must also stop — most of the time — when approaching said school bus on a four-lane highway.
LaHarpe City Attorney Fred Works said three motorists near LaHarpe have learned the lesson the hard way in recent weeks because they’ve passed a school bus from the opposite direction on U.S. 54 just outside of LaHarpe.
School bus signals on four-lane highways must be obeyed when approaching from the opposite direction, Works said, but only if the median between the opposite lanes is asphalt and can accommodate a vehicle. That’s because the median is considered a turning lane.
Four-lane highways divided by a grass median are a bit different, Works noted. In those cases, motorists coming from the opposite direction do not have to stop if they see a school bus, even if the bus’ stop sign is extended and lights are flashing.
(Of course, vehicles approaching a stopped and signaled bus from behind must stop in all instances.)
U.S. 54 has an asphalt median when the highway passes LaHarpe, but it cuts to a grass median about a quarter-mile east of town. The grass median then goes back to asphalt as motorists approach Gas.
What that means is there’s about a 2-mile stretch where motorists do not have to stop for buses between LaHarpe and Gas if approaching from the opposite direction.
Works, speaking last week to LaHarpe City Council members, said he called Iola-USD 257’s transportation office about the citations.
His concern wasn’t that motorists are being unfairly targeted, but that stopping on a four-lane highway causes a potential traffic hazard for those coming up behind the stopped vehicles.
“There are a lot of trucks who use that highway,” Works said, and require a long distance if they’re traveling 55 to 60 mph.
Stacey Fager, Iola’s superintendent of schools, said the district is looking at alternative ways for buses to pick up and drop off students along the noted stretch of highway, because he, too, wants safe passage for both the buses and other motorists.
