What does the school bus stop ahead sign mean?

This sign is posted on a rural road you are driving along. What is it warning you about?

A school bus stops ahead at a point where you might not expect one

On a country road a bus can stop beyond a crest or a bend where a following driver gets very little warning. The sign moves that warning back up the road, so the flashing lights ahead become something you were already slowing for.

This sign is posted on a rural road with a crest a short way ahead. What is it warning you about?

A school bus stops ahead at a place where you would not expect it

The sign goes up where a bus stop sits beyond a crest or a curve, so a driver arriving at normal road speed would meet a stopped bus with very little warning. When a school bus ahead shows flashing red lights, traffic has to stop, and this sign tells you to expect that before you can see it.

This sign is at the roadside on a rural highway. What should you do as you come up to it?

Ease off and be ready for a stopped bus and children close to the road

The sign goes up where a bus stops in a place you would not expect one, often just past a crest or a bend. Children walking to or from that stop may be on the shoulder or crossing to reach it. Slowing early buys back the time the layout has taken away from you.

You are on a two-lane country road early on a weekday morning and this sign appears at the roadside. What does it tell you to expect?

A school bus picking up or setting down just ahead, at a spot you would not see in time

The sign goes up where a bus stops over a crest, round a bend, or somewhere else that gives a following driver no warning. It is telling you to come off the accelerator now, so a stopped bus with its lights flashing is not a surprise. Children around a bus cross in front of it, where the driver behind cannot see them at all.

You have passed this sign on a two lane road and now see a school bus ahead with its upper red lights flashing. What must you do?

Stop well back and wait until the lights stop flashing and the bus moves

Flashing red lights mean children are crossing or about to cross, and they are the smallest road users on the widest part of the road. You wait until the lights stop and the bus starts moving, because a child who forgot something turns back without looking.

This sign appears on a road you use as a shortcut between trips.

A bus stops ahead where you would not expect it, so ease off and watch for children crossing the road

The sign marks a stopping place that drivers reach with no other warning, often just over a rise or round a bend. The children walking to and from the bus are the hazard, not the bus itself. Ease off early and keep space to the vehicle in front, so a sudden stop ahead of you does not become a sudden stop behind you.