From the Bench: Do Bicyclists Need to Stop for School Buses?

A friend of mine came to me with an interesting question, which I thought I would share with you.  The question is: do bicyclists have the same duty to stop for a stopped school bus as a motorist?  After some research, I will share the answer with all of you.  The answer is YES!  Here is why.  The statute involving the requirement for stopping for a stopped school bus is located in Ohio Revised Code §4511.75.  It reads in part:

The driver of a vehicle, streetcar, or trackless trolley upon meeting or overtaking from either direction any school bus stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school child, person attending programs offered by community boards of mental health and county boards of developmental disabilities, or child attending a program offered by a head start agency, shall stop at least ten feet from the front or rear of the school bus and shall not proceed until such school bus resumes motion, or until signaled by the school bus driver to proceed.

I emphasized the word “vehicle” since the answer to our question lies in how the Revised Code defines this word.  ORC§4511.01(A) defines “vehicle” as: every device, including a motorized bicycle, in, upon, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except that “vehicle” does not include any motorized wheelchair, any electric personal assistive mobility device, any device that is moved by power collected from overhead electric trolley wires or that is used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks, or any device, other than a bicycle, that is moved by human power.

This definition might take a few readings to comprehend, but as you can see, it does not exclude a bicycle.  The first part of this definition is very broad in using the words “every device.”  The second part of the definition has some exclusions, but specifically excludes a bicycle from the exclusion.  So it is an exclusion of the exclusion, which includes a bicycle as “every device.”  As a result, a bicyclist must follow the same rules as motorists in stopping for a school bus.

In case you are interested, ORC§4511.01 defines the term “bicycle” as:  every device, other than a tricycle designed solely for use as a play vehicle by a child, propelled solely by human power upon which any person may ride having two tandem wheels, or one wheel in the front and two wheels in the rear, or two wheels in the front and one wheel in the rear, any of which is more than fourteen inches in diameter.

Articles appearing in this column are intended to provide broad, general information about the law. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from an attorney.