§ 74-7. School buses; lights.

(a)

Notwithstanding the provisions of Wis. Stats. § 346.48(2)(b)2, adopted by reference in section 74-1 to the contrary and except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, school bus operators shall use flashing red warning lights in residential and business districts when pupils or other authorized passengers are to be loaded or unloaded at locations at which there are no crosswalk or traffic signals so that pupils must cross the street or highway before being loaded or after being unloaded. The operator of a school bus equipped with flashing red warning lights shall actuate such lights at least 100 feet before stopping to load or unload pupils or other authorized passengers and shall not extinguish such lights until loading or unloading is completed and persons who must cross the street or highway are safely across. The operator of a school bus shall use the flashing red warning lights when loading or unloading passengers from either side where the curb and sidewalk are laid on one side of the road only. The operator of a school bus shall use the flashing red warning lights when loading or unloading passengers in a residential or business district when the passengers are to be loaded or unloaded at a location at which there are:

(1)

No traffic signals;

(2)

Sidewalk and curb are laid on both sides of the street or highway; and

(3)

Such persons must cross the street or highway before being loaded or after being unloaded.

The operator of a motor vehicle which approaches from the front or rear of any school bus which has stopped on a street or highway when the bus is displaying flashing red warning lights shall stop the vehicle not less than 20 feet from the bus and shall remain stopped until the bus resumes motion or the operator extinguishes the flashing red warning lights. The operator of a school bus, which approaches the front or rear of another school bus that has stopped and is displaying red warning lights, shall stop not less than 20 feet from the other bus, display its red warning lights and remain stopped with red warning lights actuated until the other bus resumes motion or the other operator extinguishes the flashing red warning lights.

(b)

Pursuant to Wis. Stats. § 349.21(2), the use of flashing red warning lights by school bus operators is prohibited when pupils or other authorized passengers are loaded or unloaded directly from or onto the schoolgrounds or that portion of the right-of-way between the roadway and the schoolgrounds in a zone designated by "school" warning signs as provided in Wis. Stats. § 118.08(1), in which a street or highway borders the grounds of a school.

(Code 1994, § 10-1-5)