When a school bus vehicle stops and displays its alternating red warning lights for the purpose of loading or unloading passengers, every operator of a motor vehicle or motorcycle meeting or overtaking the school bus from any direction shall bring the motor vehicle or motorcycle to a complete stop before reaching the school bus.
The operator of the motor vehicle or motorcycle shall not start up or attempt to pass in any direction until the school bus vehicle has finished receiving or discharging its passengers and is in motion again.
For the purpose of this section "multiple lane highway" means a road with four (4) or more traffic lanes and with no fewer than two (2) traffic lanes for traveling in each direction.
If the school bus is operated on a multiple lane highway divided by a parkway or a dividing strip of twenty feet (20') or more in width and if the school bus is on the opposite side of the parkway or dividing strip, then the driver of the approaching vehicle need not stop but shall proceed with due caution for the safety of the children.
(1) If a school bus route includes bus stops on a multiple lane highway, the route shall be designed to ensure that the bus operator shall always load and unload passengers in a manor that does not require a student to cross the highway.
(2) A student being loaded or unloaded at a bus stop on a multiple lane highway shall always be loaded or unloaded in a manor that does not require the student to cross the highway.