§ 1283. Identification and equipment of school buses

(a) Types I and II school buses shall be:

(1) Identified with the words, "School Bus," printed in letters not less than eight inches high, located between the warning signal lamps as high as possible without impairing visibility of the lettering from both front and rear.

(2) Painted national school bus glossy yellow, except that the hood shall be either that color or lusterless black and the fenders shall be either that color or black. For Type II school buses, the requirements of this subdivision and subdivision (a)(3) of this section shall apply to any new bus ordered on or after January 1, 2000.

(3) Equipped with bumpers of glossy black, unless for increased night visibility they are covered with a reflective material.

(4) Equipped with a system of signal lamps approved by the Commissioner, including an eight light system on any new or used school bus ordered on and after July 1, 1976. The driver of a Type I or a Type II school bus shall keep the alternately flashing red signal lamps lighted whenever school children are being received or discharged, and they shall be used only for that purpose. A school bus driver found in violation of this subdivision shall be guilty of a traffic violation.

(5)(A) Equipped with a system of mirrors, if such a system is necessary to give the seated driver a view of the roadway to each side of the bus, and of the area immediately in front of the front bumper, in accordance with the following procedure: when a rod, 30 inches long, is placed upright on the ground at any point along a traverse line one foot forward of the forward most point of a school bus, and extending the width of the bus, at least seven inches of the length of the rod shall be visible to the driver, either by direct view or by means of an indirect visibility system.

(B) In addition, equipped with an inside mirror so located as to give the driver clear vision of the interior of the bus, and an outside mirror located on each side of the bus located so as to give an unobstructed view of the road to the rear.

(6) In compliance with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for school buses as of the date of manufacture.

(b) Any school bus meeting the identification requirements of (a)(1)-(4) of this section that is permanently converted for use wholly for purposes other than transporting pupils to or from school, or transporting organized groups of pre-school or school age children, shall be painted a color other than national school bus glossy yellow, and shall have the stop arm, if any, and equipment required by this section removed.

(c) Type I and Type II school buses being operated on a public highway and transporting primarily passengers other than school pupils shall have the words "School Bus" covered, removed, or otherwise concealed, and the stop arms and equipment permitted by section 1281a of this title shall not be operable through the usual controls.

(d) No motor vehicle other than a school bus shall display the identifying equipment and signs required by this section. (Added 1975, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; amended 1977, No. 102, § 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1977; 1977, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), eff. April 3, 1978; 1979, No. 12, eff. March 19, 1979; 1979, No. 39, § 2; 1979, No. 107 (Adj. Sess.); 1987, No. 209 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1997, No. 32, § 4; 2015, No. 47, § 30.)