Quick answer: Overtaking or passing a stopped school vehicle that is showing its alternately flashing red lights is illegal in Maryland under Md. Code, Transp. § 21-706. It does not matter whether you are coming up behind the bus (overtaking) or approaching it head-on (meeting) — you must stop at least 20 feet away and stay stopped until the bus resumes motion or those red lights switch off. A conviction carries 3 points and a preset fine of $570, up to a statutory maximum of $1,000. The one real exception is a divided highway where the bus is on a separate roadway.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic cases. Below is exactly what § 21-706 asks of you, where the “meeting versus overtaking” line falls, and why this charge is worth a hard look before you pay it.
What Does § 21-706 Require When You Overtake or Meet a School Vehicle?
The statute is short, and the precision is where the whole case lives. Section 21-706 applies the moment a school vehicle “has stopped on a roadway and is operating the alternately flashing red lights.” Once that happens, two rules kick in for anyone overtaking or passing it.
“the driver of any other vehicle meeting or overtaking the school vehicle shall stop at least 20 feet from the rear of the school vehicle, if approaching the school vehicle from its rear, or at least 20 feet from the front of the school vehicle, if approaching the school vehicle from its front.”
The second rule, subsection (b), sets when you may go again: you “may not proceed until the school vehicle resumes motion or the alternately flashing red lights are deactivated.” There is no “I waited long enough” allowance anywhere in the text. If the reds are still flashing and the bus has not moved, you are still required to be stopped — that is the fact pattern that catches otherwise careful drivers who edge around after a long wait.
Overtaking vs. Meeting — Why the Distinction Matters
Section 21-706 covers two different maneuvers with the same word: “meeting or overtaking.” They are not the same thing, and knowing which one the officer says you did shapes the defense.
- Overtaking means you are traveling the same direction as the bus and coming up on it from behind — the classic “passing” scenario. You stop at least 20 feet from the rear of the bus.
- Meeting means you are approaching from the opposite direction, in oncoming traffic. You stop at least 20 feet from the front of the bus.
The part drivers most often miss is that meeting traffic has to stop too. On an ordinary two-way road, both directions come to a halt when the red lights are on — not just the cars lined up behind the bus. People assume the stop rule is only for the lane the bus is in, treat the oncoming side as clear, and drive straight into a citation. It is also why the “divided highway” carve-out below matters so much: it is the only situation where oncoming traffic gets a pass.
When Don’t You Have to Stop? The Divided-Highway Rule
Subsection (c) is the one clean exception: the section “does not apply to the driver of a vehicle on a divided highway, if the school vehicle is on a different roadway.” So if you are on the opposite side of a genuinely divided highway — separated by a median or barrier, not a painted line or a center turn lane — and the bus is stopped on the other carriageway, you are not required to stop.
That word “divided” does heavy lifting. A wide road with a double-yellow center line is not a divided highway; a physical median or barrier separating opposing traffic is. The difference decides whether meeting traffic had any duty at all, so when a citation turns on it, it is worth looking hard at exactly what the road looked like where the bus stopped. This overtaking-and-passing angle is distinct from the general stopped-school-bus rule in Maryland, which is worth reading alongside this page.
Red Lights, Not Amber Lights
Section 21-706 is triggered only by the alternately flashing red lights specified in Transp. § 22-228. Maryland school buses also run amber warning lights, which come on before the stop to signal that the bus is about to halt. Amber means get ready; red means stop.
If you overtook the bus while it was showing amber and the reds had not yet activated, the stopping duty had not started. That is not a loophole — it is the plain text of the law. The catch is that this fact usually lives in the officer’s observations and, increasingly, in the bus’s own camera footage. If you believe the reds were not on when you passed, that is a point worth fighting rather than paying.
Camera Citation or Officer Citation? They Are Not the Same
Many Maryland school buses now carry cameras, and a citation from one is a completely different animal from a charge written by a police officer. A camera-issued citation is a civil penalty. It goes to the registered owner of the vehicle and it carries no points — the same way a speed or red-light camera works. An officer-issued charge under § 21-706 goes against the driver, carries 3 points, and is prosecuted in District Court as a payable traffic citation.
So check which one you are actually holding before you panic — or before you shrug. The version with your name and 3 points on it is the one that can touch your license and your insurance.
What Are the Penalties for Passing a School Vehicle?
| What you face | Officer-issued § 21-706 charge | Bus-camera citation |
|---|---|---|
| Preset fine (payable) | $570 | Set on the civil citation |
| Statutory maximum on conviction | $1,000 under § 21-706(d) | Civil penalty only |
| Points | 3 points under § 16-402(a)(5) | None |
| Who is charged | The driver | The registered owner |
| Where it’s handled | District Court | Civil / by mail |
Three points is not trivial. It puts you within reach of the Maryland point system thresholds — a Driver Improvement Program letter arrives at 5 points, and one conviction here plus a single prior speeding ticket in the same two-year window can get you there. And if an accident resulted, you are no longer just dealing with the traffic charge; you are facing civil liability for any injury, which can dwarf everything in the table.
Don’t just pay the $570. Paying a Maryland preset fine is a guilty plea, and on this charge it means a conviction, 3 points, and an insurance hit — for a case that often has a real defense in it. Requesting a waiver hearing or a trial costs nothing to file and keeps a non-conviction disposition on the table, including probation before judgment under Crim. Proc. § 6-220, which keeps the points off your record entirely. Be aware the trade-off is real: at a hearing or trial the fine can be raised, up to the $1,000 maximum. Paying forecloses all of it.
What I Look At on an Overtaking-School-Vehicle Charge
These citations look indefensible and frequently are not. The questions I ask on every one:
- Were the alternately flashing red lights actually activated, or only the amber warning lights?
- Was this a genuinely divided highway with the bus on a separate roadway, making the stop rule inapplicable to you?
- Were you overtaking from the rear or meeting from the front — and does the officer’s account of your direction hold up?
- Was the vehicle actually a “school vehicle” as the statute defines it?
- Can the State prove you were the driver, and does any footage show what the officer says it shows?
Because judges treat this as a child-safety case, how it is presented matters. A lawyer can often appear for you in traffic court so you don’t have to take the day off, and there is more on how I defend Maryland traffic charges and in the complete Maryland moving violations guide. If the charge is squarely about passing the stopped bus itself, see my passing-a-school-bus defense page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. On an ordinary two-way road, meeting traffic must stop too, at least 20 feet from the front of the bus, whenever the alternately flashing red lights are on. The only exception is a divided highway where the bus is on a different roadway.
Three. Section 16-402(a)(5) assigns 3 points for failing to stop for a school vehicle operating its alternately flashing red lights. A bus-camera citation is different and carries no points.
Not under Section 21-706. The stopping duty is triggered by the alternately flashing red lights, not the amber warning lights, which only signal that the bus is about to stop. If the reds had not activated when you passed, the requirement had not started, and that can be a real defense.
Law Offices of David R. Waranch — 301-563-9575 · toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español.
Last updated: August 2026. Statutory references: Md. Code, Transp. §§ 21-706, 22-228, 16-402(a)(5), 16-404; Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 6-220. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.