STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 5780

September 16, 1980

SCHOOL BUSES:

Location for stopping a school bus

SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS:

Location for stopping a school bus

The driver of a school bus may not bring a school bus to a stop for the purpose of receiving or discharging school children at a location unless the school bus remains continuously visible to approaching and overtaking vehicles for the entire distance of at least 500 feet in each direction.

Gerald L. Hough

Director

Department of State Police

714 South Harrison Road

East Lansing, Michigan

You have requested my opinion on the question whether 1949 PA 300, Sec. 682(3), requires the driver of a school bus to stop the bus for the purpose of receiving or discharging passengers in such a location that the school bus remains in constant view to overtaking and approaching vehicles throughout the 500 feet distance required in the statute.

1949 PA 300, Sec. 682(3); MCLA 257.682; MSA 9.2382, provides as follows:

The Attorney General considered the predecessor statute in OAG, 1961-1962, No 3635, p 319 (March 6, 1962), in responding to the question whether the school bus must stop off the roadway when possible. This opinion relied upon OAG, 1959, No 3406, p 183 (September 2, 1959), which stated that the language of the statute must be construed consistent with the general purpose of the Legislature to safeguard school children while entering and leaving school buses. OAG, No 3635, supra, concluded that the Legislature had commanded the bus be brought to a stop upon the roadway, stating:

Thereafter, the Legislature, by means of 1963 PA 149, amended 1949 PA 300, Sec. 682(c), supra, to delete the requirement that the school bus must be brought to a stop upon the highway. It should also be noted that by means of 1978 PA 510, the Legislature amended 1949 PA 300, Sec. 682(c), supra, to revise its wording, not in pertinent part, and to substitute the number '3' for the letter (c) as the designation for this subsection.

The plain reading of 1949 PA 300, Sec. 682(3), supra, is consonant with the legislative purpose that school children entering or departing from a school bus are best protected if the school bus is stopped in a position where it remains clearly visible to approaching or overtaking drivers of vehicles for the entire distance of at least 500 feet. Smith v City Commission of Grand Rapids, 281 Mich 235; 274 NW 776 (1937). If a clear view of a stopped school bus is obstructed by trees or otherwise during any portion of the distance of 500 feet in each direction, the school bus driver may not stop the bus in that location.

It is my opinion, therefore, that 1949 PA 300, Sec. 682(3), supra, requires continued, unobstructed visibility of a school bus beginning at a distance of 500 feet in each direction of the location of the stopped school bus receiving and discharging passengers and continuing on through the shorter distances between such points and the stopped school bus. Locations which do not offer continuous, unobstructed visibility of such stopped school bus to both approaching and overtaking vehicles for the entire distance of 500 feet in each direction may not be utilized as school bus stops to receive or discharge passengers.

Frank J. Kelley