School Bus Safety

School Bus Safety Webpage Header

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety encourages parents and teachers to talk with their children about the importance of safety before and after school starts. This page is meant to serve as a guide by housing important safety information in a central location. The back-to-school season is a great time to teach, motivate, practice and encourage safety habits as students travel to and from school. We hope schools and childcare facilities will take advantage of the information offered here, including safety videos, fun activity sheets and educational materials for parents and caregivers.

Please watch this video to ensure you know when to stop for a school bus in South Carolina.

School Bus Laws in South Carolina

You must stop for the entire time a school bus is stopped or preparing to stop with its red or amber lights flashing or its stop arm extended. After the school bus’s red and/or amber lights have stopped flashing and the stop arm is no longer visible, proceed slowly, watching for children. Law requires these actions whether you are meeting the school bus or traveling behind it under the following conditions:

On any two-lane highway
On any four-lane or multi-lane highway only when traveling behind a school bus
When attempting to pass a school bus that has red or amber signals flashing.

You are required to stop for a stopped school bus when driving on a two-lane road.

You do not have to stop around a school bus in the following circumstances:

When the school bus is in a passenger loading zone completely off the main travel lanes and when pedestrians are not allowed to cross the roadway.
A driver of a vehicle does not have to stop upon meeting a stopped school bus when traveling in the opposite direction on a multi-lane highway or multi-lane private road. A multi-lane highway or multi-lane private road is defined as a highway or private road that consists of four lanes, having at least two traffic lanes in each direction. You must always stop on any highway when you are behind the bus. When you have stopped, you must not proceed until the school bus moves or the red lights are no longer flashing.

Read more about the state’s school bus laws in the South Carolina Code of Laws Section 56-5-2770.