What Happens If You Pass a Stopped School Bus in Maryland?
Quick answer: Under Md. Code, Transp. § 21-706, if a school bus is stopped with its alternately flashing red lights operating, you must stop at least 20 feet away — whether you’re approaching from behind or from the front — and you may not move until the bus resumes motion or those red lights go off. A conviction carries 3 points and a fine of up to $1,000. Two things people get wrong: the rule is triggered by the red lights, not the amber warning lights, and there’s a genuine exception on a divided highway when the bus is on the other roadway.
Why This Ticket Is Worse Than It Looks
We have all been stuck behind a bus while running late. I have been there. The problem is that this is not an ordinary moving violation — it sits near the top of the fine schedule, it carries 3 points, and judges treat it as a child-safety case rather than a traffic case. That changes the room you’re standing in.
Three points also puts you squarely in Driver Improvement Program territory if you have anything else on your record in the same two-year window. One conviction plus one prior speeding ticket and you’re getting a letter from the MVA.
What the Law Actually Requires
Section 21-706 is short, and it’s worth knowing precisely because the precision is where the defenses live:
- Stop 20 feet away. If a school vehicle is stopped on a roadway with its alternately flashing red lights operating, you stop at least 20 feet from the rear if you’re behind it, or 20 feet from the front if you’re approaching head-on.
- Both directions have to stop. Oncoming traffic stops too. This is the part drivers most often don’t realize.
- Stay stopped until one of two things happens: the bus resumes motion, or the alternately flashing red lights are deactivated. There is no “I waited long enough” allowance in the statute. If the lights are still flashing, you still have to be stopped.
That last point is where a lot of otherwise careful drivers get caught. You wait, nobody gets off, nothing seems to be happening, and eventually you edge around. The statute does not care how long you waited. Only the lights and the bus’s motion end your obligation.
Red Lights, Not Amber Lights
This is the single most useful thing on this page, and it is routinely missed.
Section 21-706 is triggered only when the bus is operating the alternately flashing red lights. 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 passed the bus while it was showing amber and the red lights had not yet activated, the statute did not require you to stop. That is not a technicality — it is the plain text of the law. It’s also a fact that lives entirely in the officer’s observations and, increasingly, in the bus’s own camera footage. If you believe the reds weren’t on yet, that is worth fighting rather than paying.
The Divided-Highway Exception
Subsection (c) contains the one clean carve-out: the section does not apply to the driver of a vehicle on a divided highway when the school vehicle is on a different roadway.
So if you’re on the opposite side of a genuinely divided highway — separated by a median or barrier, not merely a painted line or a center turn lane — and the bus is stopped on the other carriageway, you are not required to stop. The distinction between a divided highway and a wide road with a double yellow line matters enormously here, and it is the kind of thing worth looking at closely when the citation lands.
The Penalties
- 3 points under § 16-402(a)(5), on conviction.
- A fine of up to $1,000 under § 21-706(d). The amount printed on your citation for prepayment will typically be lower than that ceiling — but paying it is a guilty plea, and the points come with it.
- Insurance consequences that usually outlast the fine, since this is exactly the kind of conviction carriers notice.
And if an accident resulted, you’re no longer only dealing with the traffic charge — you’re facing civil liability for any injury, which can dwarf everything above.
Camera Ticket or Officer Ticket? They Are Not the Same
Maryland school buses increasingly carry cameras, and a citation generated by one of them is a different animal from a citation 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. An officer-issued charge under § 21-706 goes to the driver, carries 3 points, and is prosecuted in District Court.
So check which one you actually have before you panic — or before you shrug. The one with your name and 3 points attached is the one that can cost you your license. That’s the one I handle.
Don’t Just Pay It
Paying a Maryland citation is a guilty plea, and on this charge that means a conviction, 3 points, and an insurance hit — for a case that often has real defenses in it. The questions I ask on every one of these:
- Were the red lights actually activated, or only the amber?
- Was the road genuinely a divided highway with the bus on a separate roadway?
- Was the vehicle actually a school vehicle as the statute defines it?
- Can the State prove you were the driver?
- Is there footage, and does it show what the officer says it shows?
Even where the facts are difficult, a probation before judgment keeps the 3 points off your record entirely. On a charge that judges take seriously, how the case is presented matters a great deal.
Related Questions
- How Maryland’s point system works
- Payable vs. must-appear tickets in Maryland
- Can my lawyer appear without me in traffic court?
- How a Maryland traffic court attorney can help
- Following too closely in Maryland
Frequently Asked Questions
How many points is passing a school bus in Maryland?
Three. Section 16-402(a)(5) assigns 3 points for failing to stop for a school vehicle operating its alternately flashing red lights. You may see “2 points” quoted in older material online — that’s outdated.
Do I have to stop if I’m coming the other way?
Yes — unless you’re on a divided highway and the bus is on a different roadway. On an ordinary two-way road, oncoming traffic stops too, at least 20 feet from the front of the bus.
The bus had its yellow lights on. Was I supposed to stop?
Not under § 21-706. The statute is triggered by the alternately flashing red lights. Amber lights are a warning that the bus is about to stop. If the reds weren’t on, the stopping requirement hadn’t kicked in — and that’s a real defense worth raising.
How long do I have to wait?
Until the bus moves or the red lights go off. That’s the whole test. There is no point at which “I’d waited long enough” becomes a defense, which is unfortunately how a lot of these citations get written.
I got a ticket in the mail from a bus camera. Is that the same charge?
No. A camera citation is a civil penalty issued to the vehicle’s registered owner and it carries no points. An officer-issued § 21-706 charge goes against you as the driver and carries 3 points. Very different consequences — check which one you’re holding.
Charged With Passing a Stopped School Bus?
This is a charge that looks indefensible and frequently isn’t. Whether the red lights were actually on, whether the road was a divided highway, whether the State can prove you were driving — these are real questions with real answers, and none of them get asked if you simply pay the ticket. I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic cases and I’d rather look at yours before the points land.
Toll-free: 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español. See how I defend Maryland traffic charges, or read the complete Maryland moving violations guide.
Last updated: July 2026.