Dubai: It's back-to-school season, and as children make their daily trip, you will once again see buses dropping chlidren off at home or at school during the day.
But do you know the rules that you need to follow when a bus in front of you puts up the stop sign?
To ensure children's safety, the UAE's Traffic Law, as well as a Child's Rights law (Wadeema's Law), put in place regulations that protect children from traffic accidents.
So, if you see a school bus stopping ahead, make sure you follow these dos and don'ts:
1. Do not overtake
Whether you are on a single lane road or a two-lane road, if the bus is on your side of the road, you need to stop. If you are on a single-lane road, you need to stop whether you are driving in the same direction as the bus, or coming from the oppposite direction. This is because they may need to cross the road at times to get home.
This should be done as soon as the bus stops and puts up a stop sign, which you can see come out from the side of the bus.
The UAE’s Public Prosecution took to its social media channels on September 27 to educate people of Article 58 of this law.
2. Stop at a distance of at least five metres
You also need to make sure that you maintain a sufficient safe distance when stopping. Police advise motorists to have a gap of at least five metres. An easy way to assess that you have maintained that distance is to check if you can see the tyres of the bus ahead. If not, you are too close.
3. Move only after the bus starts moving
It is also important to wait for the bus to take down the stop sign and start moving, before you start driving.
1- Prohibiting the seating of children under ten years old in the front seats of the vehicles of all types.
2- Developing controls concerning the use of bicycles by children.
Radars on school buses to catch violations
Did you know buses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have radars installed to catch motorists who fail to abide by these three rules? As per the Federal Traffic Law, motorists failing to abide by the school bus stop sign rules face a fine of Dh1,000, in addition to receiving 10 black points.
Bus drivers, too, need to ensure that they comply with the requirement to put up the stop sign, to indicate to other motorists that they need to stop as children may be crossing the road. Failing to put up the stop sign will lead to a Dh500 fine along with six black traffic, according to Abu Dhabi Police.
In an opinion poll conducted by Abu Dhabi Police in 2011, it was found that 17 per cent of motorists do not comply with the stop sign that is put up by school bus drivers.
This article was first published on November 8, 2021 and has been updated since.
