Officials To Drivers: Watch For Children Exiting School Buses

CARTERSVILLE, GA — Students in the Bartow County and Cartersville City school systems will return to classes on Wednesday, Aug. 8, and motorists are strongly advised to be extra vigilant in paying attention to your speed in school zones and watching out for children getting on or exiting buses.

Local law enforcement agencies are also informing residents about a change in state law that went into effect in July, which relaxed the rules that govern how drivers must respond to approaching school buses.

The law now states that a turning lane is now considered a divider between roadways, and drivers approaching school buses do not have to stop on the other side of the turn lane. This new law went into effect on July 1.

The graphic below demonstrates how the change applies to roadways:

“The driver of a vehicle upon a highway with separate roadways or a divided highway, including, but not limited to, a highway divided by a turn lane, need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus which is on a different roadway or on another half of a divided highway,” House Bill 978 states. It was signed into law on May 8 by Gov. Nathan Deal.

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Area cities have shared this advisory on their social media pages in an effort to warn their followers about these changes. Residents are encouraged to share this tweak in the law with their relatives or friends and to continue using caution when approaching or passing school buses.

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