The Minnesota Senate on Monday passed a bill that will improve student safety at the bus stop by clarifying the law about school bus stop-arm violations. Senator Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) is a co-sponsor of the bill.

"There's nothing really more important than safety on our roads, particularly when it comes to our children,” Sen. Nelson said. “Parents are entrusting their children to a bus and driver before they even get to school. The appellate court ruled that a driver did not have to stop because the stop arm was only halfway out, even though he was within 20 feet of the school bus and with kids getting ready to get off. This offender’s conviction was overturned even though he put kids’ lives in danger. This bill is going to help keep kids safer on their way to and from school.”

The bill was necessary because of a ruling by the Minnesota Court of Appeals last fall. The court ruling came out of a 2024 incident in Baxter, where a driver passed a stopped school bus while children were present. The driver was convicted, but the appeals court threw out the conviction because under the existing law, drivers are only required to stop when the bus's stop arm is fully extended. In this case, the driver was already within 20 feet of the bus by the time the arm finished extending, so the court said the law technically wasn't broken.

Senate File 3623 fixes this by adjusting the basis for a violation. Under the new law, drivers must stop when the red lights on a school bus start flashing. Buses will still be equipped with stop arms, and drivers will still be required to extend them when loading and unloading students. The stop arm just won't be the deciding factor in whether someone broke the law. The bill also adds a rule for amber warning lights. When those are flashing, drivers need to slow down.

The bill drew broad support and no opposition in committee. The Minnesota State Patrol testified in favor of it, as did the Minnesota School Bus Operators Association and a school bus company.