Crime & Safety

ASK A COP: Do I Have to Stop for a School Bus and Does a Fetus Count as a Person in the Carpool Lane?

Yup. I thought this reader question would be a new one for the CHP. Boy, was I wrong. 

Can a pregnant woman claim her fetus as a passenger? 

Says California Highway Patrol spokesman Brad Sadek: HA HA, can’t say I haven’t answered that question a billion times! The answer is no.

Another reader asks:

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What's the rule on school buses? We used to have to stop on either side of traffic, but now I don't see people doing that. 

CHP's Bradley Sadek (who just got married, so you can congratulate him below) says: 

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Section 22454 (a) of the California Vehicle Code is still very much in effect! 

It states “The driver of any vehicle, upon meeting from either direction, any school bus that is stopped for the purpose of loading or unloading any schoolchildren and displays a flashing red light signal shall bring the vehicle to a stop immediately before passing the school bus and shall not proceed past the school bus until the flashing red light signal and stop signal arm, if equipped with a stop signal arm, cease operation.

(b) (1) The driver of a vehicle upon a divided highway or multiple-lane highway need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus that is upon the other roadway.

(2) For the purposes of this subdivision, a multiple-lane highway is any highway that has two or more lanes of travel in each direction.


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