# 6-Sided School Bus Stop Sign **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913 "2017-01-23T03:12:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/1 "2017-01-23T03:12:58Z")
I assume most North Americans are familiar with the swing-out stop signs on the driver’s side of yellow school buses. They’re red octagons that look just like the stop signs at intersections, with the addition of a couple flashing lights. When I was growing up, all the school buses in my district were white 6-sided signs, like so: [http://jjakucyk.com/otherimages/schoolbusstopsign1.jpg](http://jjakucyk.com/otherimages/schoolbusstopsign1.jpg) Apparently these are super uncommon, as that’s the only decent photo I was able to find of one. This was in Highland Park, Illinois in the 1990s, and it included all school buses K-12 even though they’re two different districts (112 for K-8 and 113 for 9-12). Here’s another photo from my 1995 high school yearbook that shows some of the buses with the white 6-sided signs. [http://jjakucyk.com/otherimages/schoolbusstopsign2.jpg](http://jjakucyk.com/otherimages/schoolbusstopsign2.jpg) The district’s buses were mostly Blue Birds but there were some Carpenters and older Ward/AmTrans and Waynes too from what I remember, so it wasn’t a manufacturer-specific thing. It seems from what little I can find that it was an older design that was still being used (when I was in middle school starting in 1990 my route had a brand new Blue Bird bus and the sign, while still the white 6-sided design, used strobe lights instead of regular flashing lights in sync with the overhead ones), but I’m curious if anyone has any knowledge about the history, and if these were commonly used anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/2 "2017-01-23T17:46:14Z")
What I vaguely remember from the 50s/60s were simple rectangular “flags”. Like 1-2’ long and 5" wide\*. Initially just red and later some combo or red/yellow with “STOP” printed on them. Don’t recall any odd shapes. - It’s _very_ hard to translate sizes from childhood memory into reasonable guesses. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/3 "2017-01-23T17:54:49Z")
Considering the attitude of so many scofflaw drivers who ignore warning lights and signs on stopped school buses, a camera that photographs a car’s license plate would be a better idea than any kind of sign. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/4 "2017-01-24T00:09:30Z")
The prohibition on passing an American school bus seems to have been around forever. There is no such law in the UK, or anywhere else in Europe as far as I know. Do other countries have the same or similar rules? Why do Americans think that their kids are so stupid that they will run out onto the road? ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/5 "2017-01-24T00:19:16Z")
Kids run out in the road all the time. The buses around here have an arm that swings out from the right front of the bumper, too, to prevent kids from running right in front of the bus where the driver can’t see them. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/6 "2017-01-24T00:45:31Z")
My recollection from school in the mid 60-mid 70s is that buses (at least in CA) didn’t have swing out stop signs. They had the large flashing red lights at the upper left & right corners and that was it. The OP’s pix are not something I remember seeing anywhere I’ve ever lived since then. The standard octagon swing out sign with two circular red lights has been all-but universal since the late 80s (?) The swing out barrier across the front of the bus to avoid kids crossing under the driver’s line of sight are another late 80s/ early 90s addition we never had in the Vastly UnSayffe Olde Dayes. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/7 "2017-01-24T00:48:57Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > The prohibition on passing an American school bus seems to have been around forever. There is no such law in the UK, or anywhere else in Europe as far as I know. > > Do other countries have the same or similar rules? > > **Why do Americans think that their kids are so stupid that they will run out onto the road?** Bolding mine. Because they \*are \*that stupid. And because this stuff dates from when school busses were used on rural country roads where people would pass a stopped bus at 40mph without a care in the world. Until the kid appeared in front of them from behind the bus. School bus stops and school speed zones are one of the very few civic-minded things most Americans can bring themselves to agree to put up with. Don’t take that small bit of civilization away from us; it’s damn near all we’ve got. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/8 "2017-01-24T00:50:21Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Why do Americans think that their kids are so stupid that they will run out onto the road? Because the parents are that stupid. ---
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/9 "2017-01-24T00:55:36Z")
Maybe because it’s hard to see through a bus; kids get off the bus and then cross in front of the bus to cross the street. Buses are opaque, or at least were when I was a kid. I don’t think stupidity comes into it - if you can help prevent an accident by employing a sign with flashing lights, why would you _not_? Accidents happen. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/10 "2017-01-24T01:00:34Z")
required since 1994 > **[SBInspManRevinspmansec10.pdf](https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/msp/commercial-vehicles/Documents/InspectionManual/SBInspManRevinspmansec10.pdf)** > > 10.12 KB X. Stop Arm System (25) The stop arm must be installed on Buses after 12/31/94 the left outside of the body near the front. It shall meet the requirements of FMVSS 131. Arm shall be on an octagonal shape with white letters and border and red background and may be reflective meeting U.S. DOT FHWA FP-85 Type 2a or Type 3A. Flashing lamps (incandescent or strobe) shall be connected to alternately red flashing lamps. The stop arm shall be vacuum, electric or air operated. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/11 "2017-01-24T01:33:42Z")
There are new “school bus stop” signs here that are quite disturbing. I don’t know how widely used they are, but between the bus, the kid getting off and the bright red reflective marks for all the lights etc.,[it resembles nothing so much as a cartoon of a school shooting](http://images.clipartpanda.com/school-bus-stop-sign-clip-art-nTE74G5TA.jpeg). This static image doesn’t convey how much the red parts flash and flicker as you drive by one. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/12 "2017-01-24T01:50:46Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Why do Americans think that their kids are so stupid that they will run out onto the road? Were you never a kid? I mean, yes, we were taught to look both ways before crossing the street and all that crap, but I’ve once managed to run out into the middle of the street being distracted by something or another and not thinking about what I was doing. Luckily, I didn’t get hit. Unfortunately, every day when I drop my kids off to school, I pass the memorial of a kid who was hit about 5 years ago who was distracted. I didn’t think it would be so controversial to minimize this type of damage by requiring cars to stop for a few seconds in situations that may be higher risk than usual instead of saying, oh well, let the stupid fucking kid get run over. But maybe kids in the UK are exceptionally smart and never get run over. Or maybe you just chalk the ones that do to being idiots. I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/13 "2017-01-24T01:58:10Z")
I stop for school buses while riding my **bike** , as the law requires, and bask in the parents’ stares of incredulous approval. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/14 "2017-01-24T02:12:22Z")
Maybe that’s the opening your svelte athletic self needs to hook up with the MILF or DILF of your choice. Sometimes virtue isn’t its own reward, but leads directly to some. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/15 "2017-01-24T09:44:12Z")
It could be argued that all these measures are in fact a bad thing. Kids get used to the idea that when the bus stops, so does all the other traffic; then, when they come to use an ordinary service bus, … oops! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/16 "2017-01-24T10:14:31Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > It could be argued that all these measures are in fact a bad thing. Kids get used to the idea that when the bus stops, so does all the other traffic; then, when they come to use an ordinary service bus, … oops! These measures are most necessary in areas where “bus” and “school bus” are essentially synonyms. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/17 "2017-01-24T10:29:18Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > The prohibition on passing an American school bus seems to have been around forever. There is no such law in the UK, or anywhere else in Europe as far as I know. > > Do other countries have the same or similar rules? > > Why do Americans think that their kids are so stupid that they will run out onto the road? Germany does have restrictions on passing school buses and any other city buses (§ 20 StVO) - there are no visually distinct school buses, rather students take normal public transit buses or (in rarer cases) normal buses are scheduled for dedicated school bus runs. You may not overtake a bus nearing a stop when its hazard lights are flashing (risk: people crossing the street in a hurry to catch the bus at ist stop) and may only pass a stationary bus with flashing lights at a walking pace (risk: bus passengers, having left the bus, crossing the street directly in front of or behind the bus). German traffic law seems to assume adult bus passengers are as stupid as school children, which in my opinion is the case. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/18 "2017-01-24T10:57:29Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > German traffic law seems to assume adult bus passengers are as stupid as school children, which in my opinion is the case. Perhaps Darwin’s law applies elsewhere 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/19 "2017-01-24T13:12:50Z")
In Prague it’s illegal to pass a tram that has stopped at a tramstop. I’m not sure if the same applies to buses. It’s generally ignored by most drivers though. I’ve seen people almost getting squashed on a daily basis. They just step out in front of the tram without looking. I’m not sure who the biggest idiots are in that situation? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913/20 "2017-01-24T13:53:15Z")
I have a relative who got off of a (non-school) bus on a 4 lane road. Started crossing the road without looking and got hit. Pretty badly dinged up but lived. Kids really do this sort of stuff. (How old am I? I’m so old I remember when school buses didn’t have seatbelts. Wait, wait?) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-sided-school-bus-stop-sign/777913.md?page=2)