Kentucky School and Church Bus Laws

It's "Back to School Week" throughout Kentucky and it's time to refresh our memories (and it's not hard) about what is expected of us drivers.

Every time I'm on this topic and can't help but remember my bus driver from when I was in fourth grade. Her name was Pat and she was the absolute coolest. And I saw a lot of Pat because our bus stop was one of her FIRST stops but then she would have to go way out to Millers Mill Road where Macedonia Baptist Church is and pick up kids who she'd take to Owensboro Catholic High School. I went to Masonville Elementary School and lived next to Lincoln Mall (now Owensboro Christian Church).

It was a haul, and I was on her bus a very long time each day. But again, Pat was awesome, so it wasn't a problem.

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When Pat WASN'T awesome, it was when someone would be stupid enough to drive right on through the school bus stop sign. That drove her CRAZY and it happened more often than you might think.

One day--I'll never forget this--she'd had enough.

A car did not stop while kids were getting off the bus (nobody got hurt) and she exited the bus and started CHASING THE CAR DOWN. It really wasn't going very fast; we were on Parkway Drive. But, obviously, she did not catch it. But I wouldn't be a bit surprised if, by way of that motorist's rearview mirror, she made quite an impression. I can see where that would be enough to forge a reminder.

Loved Pat.

Bottom line...DO NOT RUN THOSE SCHOOL BUS STOP SIGNS. They are legitimate stop signs and it is against the law. I also learned it is illegal to pass a stopped CHURCH bus. Now you're gonna have to help here...I can't remember if church buses have those stop signs or not. Regardless, you can't and SHOULDN'T pass them while they're stopped.

Now there is an exception and it's kind of obvious. If the bus is stopped on a four-lane stretch of highway, oncoming traffic does not have to stop. I mean they're way over there and it doesn't present a hazard. And I don't imagine a bus driver would let a child off the bus on a certain side of a four-lane road if that child lived on the other side of it.

The law also states that it is a "rebuttable presumption that the person in whose name the vehicle is registered or leased was the operator of the vehicle at the time of the alleged violation and is subject to penalties."

It is, it has always been, and I'm assuming it shall forever be illegal to pass a stopped school or church bus.