In too much of a hurry to wait for that stopped school bus in front of you?

If you’re not concerned about seriously injuring a child (or worse), you may want to consider:

Laws pertaining to passing stopped school buses when children are boarding and departing are not only valid throughout the state but are enforced on both public and private property — and the penalties are steep.

Anyone cited for illegally passing a stopped school bus must appear in court and if convicted, their license is suspended for three months and they are fined $150. A second conviction dictates a one year driver’s license suspension and a $500 fine.

Laws addressing stopped school buses are pretty simple.

Basically, when the red lights flash and the buses’ stop arm is extended, drivers in both directions need to stop and not pass the bus until the flashing lights cease and the stop arm is retracted; or the school bus driver signals that it is OK to proceed.

The only exceptions are vehicles traveling in the opposite direction of a stopped school bus on a roadway with at least four lanes of traffic and at least two of which allow travel in opposite directions.

Also, motorists traveling in either direction on a controlled access roadway need not stop when the bus is stopped in a loading zone adjacent to the surfaced or improved part of the roadway where pedestrians are not permitted to cross.

“Area schools start back beginning this week,” Dan Ferrelli said on the Aurora Police Department Facebook page. “Let’s make it the safest school year ever.”

SOURCE: Aurora Police Department Facebook page