With children returning to school this month, take a minute to remind yourself of California’s school zone safety laws:
If you are behind or approaching a school bus that has the stop sign extended and lights flashing, you must stop and cannot proceed again until the bus retracts the stop arm and turns off the flashing red lights.
The only exception to this rule is if you are traveling in the opposite direction of a school bus on a divided or multilane highway (two or more lanes in each direction). In this case, you do not need to stop.
Violating this law can result in fines of up to $1,000 and could even lead to a suspension of your drivers’ license for one year.
In addition, drivers are required to stop at any crosswalk where school crossing guards or children are present. It is your responsibility to avoid hitting pedestrians and to obey all school zone speed limits, which is 25 mph unless otherwise posted.
If you or a loved one is involved in an accident that causes death or serious injury, call Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm. We are one of the leading catastrophic injury firms in the state of California. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.2 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a record breaking $50 Million settlement against the City of Dana Point, which has been certified as the largest personal injury settlement in the history of the United States. Callahan & Blaine has also recently obtained a $28 Million settlement for a driver who was hit by a runaway truck wheel on the freeway, a $7 million settlement for a bicyclist who was struck by a newspaper delivery truck, and a $7.25 million settlement for a man who was run over trying to board a city bus.
Our success in litigating and negotiating personal injury cases comes from our uncommon approach; we handle each personal injury case as though it were a complex business litigation case, attacking it from every angle possible. While our firm is located in Orange County, California, we handle serious personal injury, wrongful death and product liability cases nationwide.
If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of a school zone accident, please contact our California law firm for expert legal counsel.
