Can a driver be charged in North Carolina for passing a stopped school bus with its stop arm out if the bus is on a school driveway, not a public street?
Plain-English summary
The Pleasant Gardens Elementary School in McDowell County had a "John Roach Drive," a semi-circular driveway entirely on school property that left State Road #1430 at one point, looped past the school, and rejoined the same state road. The drive was about four bus lengths wide and was marked at both ends with "buses only" signs. In the morning, school buses pulled up to the front entrance, deployed their mechanical stop arms, and discharged the children onto a sidewalk leading to the door. Once all buses arrived, a yellow barricade was placed across one entrance and stayed there all day until afternoon pickup.
The question reached the AG: if a driver passes a stopped school bus on John Roach Drive while the stop arm is displayed, has that driver violated G.S. 20-217 (the school bus stop-arm law)? And if not on the driveway, does the same passing offense apply on a "public vehicular area"?
Assistant Attorney General William B. Ray answered no to both.
G.S. 20-217(a) requires drivers to stop when approaching a school bus "from any direction on the same street or highway" while the bus is displaying its mechanical stop signal and is receiving or discharging passengers. The duty is keyed to the location of both the bus and the approaching driver: they must be on the "same street or highway."
"Street" and "highway" are defined in G.S. 20-4.01(13) and (46) as synonyms, both meaning "the entire width between property or right-of-way lines of every way or place of whatever nature, when any part thereof is open to the use of the public as a matter of right for the purposes of vehicular traffic." The key phrase is "open to the use of the public as a matter of right." A path the public uses with permission, or by sufferance, or at the school's discretion is not a street or highway. A path the public has the legal right to use, regardless of any one owner's consent, is a street or highway.
John Roach Drive failed that test. It was entirely on school property, used primarily by school buses, signed "buses only," and barricaded during the school day. The public's use of it (when permitted) was at the school's discretion, not as a matter of right. So G.S. 20-217 did not reach it.
The opinion then addressed "public vehicular area" (PVA). G.S. 20-4.01(32) defines a public vehicular area to include any area "generally open to and used by the public" for vehicular traffic — typically a shopping center parking lot, a hospital parking lot, an apartment complex parking lot. Several Chapter 20 offenses explicitly extend to PVAs: G.S. 20-138.1 (DWI), G.S. 20-140 (reckless driving), G.S. 20-140.2 (additional offenses). G.S. 20-217 does not. The legislature knew how to extend Chapter 20 offenses to PVAs and did extend several; the omission in G.S. 20-217 was treated as deliberate. So passing a stopped school bus on a PVA is also not a § 20-217 offense.
The AG anchored this reading in the strict-construction rule for criminal statutes. State v. Ross, State v. Hageman, State v. Richardson, and State v. Glidden all confirm that criminal statutes are strictly construed against the State and in favor of the defendant. A statute that says "street or highway" cannot be expanded by interpretation to cover off-street school driveways or shopping-center PVAs. The result might be unsatisfying as a matter of child safety policy, but the remedy is for the legislature to amend the statute, not for prosecutors and courts to stretch it.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1987. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here. G.S. 20-217 has been amended multiple times since 1987, including significant changes in 1999 (Hasani Wesley's Law, passing a school bus and causing death or injury) and in later years adding civil penalties and camera enforcement. The location requirement ("street or highway") may have been broadened or clarified; modern researchers should verify current text. The PVA definition in § 20-4.01(32) has also been expanded over the years.
Background and statutory framework
North Carolina's school-bus-stop-arm law is one of several Chapter 20 statutes designed to protect children walking to and from school buses. The standard fact pattern is a child crossing a public road to or from a stopped bus, and a motorist passing the bus while the stop arm is deployed. The criminal liability under G.S. 20-217 was designed for that situation.
The 1987 AG opinion turns on the limits of the statute's location element. The General Assembly drafted G.S. 20-217 with explicit "street or highway" language and a specific exception for divided roadways (subsection (c)). The legislature did NOT use the broader "street, highway, or public vehicular area" formulation that appears in other Chapter 20 offenses. That structural choice matters in construction.
The "open to the use of the public as a matter of right" definition is the controlling line between a private way and a public way in North Carolina motor vehicle law. A driveway, even a long one, even one used by many vehicles, is private if the public's access is by permission rather than right. School driveways like John Roach Drive sit on the private side of that line. Public roads and dedicated streets sit on the public side.
The "public vehicular area" concept was created to extend selected Chapter 20 offenses to commercial parking lots, where the public clearly uses the space but does not own or have legal right to it. DWI, reckless driving, and certain motor vehicle violations were specifically extended to PVAs in recognition that the same dangers exist there as on public roads. The decision not to extend G.S. 20-217 to PVAs was a deliberate legislative choice, possibly because (a) the typical PVA does not involve children boarding buses, or (b) the typical PVA does not involve through-traffic in the way roads do.
The AG's conclusion was therefore narrow and rule-bound, not a policy preference: the statute did not reach the conduct, however dangerous the conduct.
Common questions
Could a driver who passes a stopped bus on a school driveway be charged with anything?
Possibly, depending on the facts. Reckless driving (G.S. 20-140) applies to PVAs, and a school driveway may qualify as a PVA depending on usage. Other offenses such as careless and prudent driving (G.S. 20-140) or driving without due caution (G.S. 20-141) could apply if the conduct met those elements. The school could also pursue civil trespass remedies for unauthorized use of the driveway. What the driver could not be charged with is the specific G.S. 20-217 offense and its enhanced penalties.
What if the school driveway is open to the public after school hours?
The "as a matter of right" test looks at whether the public has the legal right to use the space, not whether they have permission at certain times. A school driveway open to the public at certain hours (for a basketball game, for example) is still a private way governed by the school's discretion, not a street or highway. The G.S. 20-217 analysis does not turn on hours of opening.
Does it matter that the bus driver activated the stop arm on the driveway?
No. The driver's compliance with bus-stop-arm procedure is not what makes the conduct a violation. The violation depends on the location of the bus and the approaching driver being on a "street or highway." A bus driver activating the stop arm on private property does not transform the property into a street or highway.
Why isn't passing a stopped bus on a PVA a § 20-217 violation when DWI on a PVA is?
The General Assembly specifically extended DWI, reckless driving, and several other offenses to PVAs, but did not similarly extend G.S. 20-217. The doctrine of strict construction of criminal statutes treats that legislative choice as binding. The AG cannot read into § 20-217 a coverage that the legislature did not include.
Would the result be different if the bus were partially on the school driveway and partially on the state road?
The opinion does not address that scenario. The location element of G.S. 20-217 requires the bus and the passing driver to be on the same street or highway. If the bus is partially on a public road, and the passing motorist is on the same public road, the elements would likely be met. The driveway portion of the bus would be irrelevant to that scenario.
Source
Citations
- N.C.G.S. § 20-217(a), (c) (school bus stop-arm law)
- N.C.G.S. § 20-4.01(13), (46) (definitions of highway and street)
- N.C.G.S. § 20-4.01(32) (definition of public vehicular area)
- N.C.G.S. § 115C-243 (privately owned buses transporting children and senior citizens)
- N.C.G.S. § 20-138.1, § 20-140, § 20-140.2 (offenses extended to public vehicular areas)
- State v. Ross, 272 N.C. 67 (1967)
- State v. Hageman, 307 N.C. 1 (1982)
- State v. Richardson, 307 N.C. 692 (1983)
- State v. Glidden, 317 N.C. 557 (1986)
Original opinion text
Questions: (1)
- Does passing a stopped school bus displaying a mechanical stop signal while receiving or discharging passengers on a driveway on school property, which is not a street or highway, violate G.S. 20-217?
- (2)
- Does passing a stopped school bus displaying a mechanical stop signal while receiving or discharging passengers on a public vehicular area violate G.S. 20-217?
Conclusion: (1)
- No.
- (2)
- No.
Pleasant Gardens Elementary School in McDowell County is served by a semi-circular driveway, named "John Roach Drive", which leaves State Road #1430 (Pleasant Garden School Road) at one point, circles in front of the school and rejoins State Road #1430 at another point. John Roach Drive is entirely on school property, about the width of four school buses parked side by side, and is not a state-maintained road. John Roach Drive is marked at both ends with a sign that reads, "buses only". It is primarily used by school buses, which pull up to the front of the school, stop, display their mechanical stop signals and discharge the children onto the sidewalk leading into the school door. The buses are then parked around the drive. After all of the buses have arrived and are parked, a yellow barricade is usually placed across one entrance to the drive and remains there throughout the day until the afternoon when it is removed so that other vehicles can enter the driveway to pick up children after the buses have left the campus.
- G.S. 20-217(a) provides: "(a) The driver of any vehicle upon approaching from any direction on the same street or highway any school bus (including privately owned buses transporting children and school buses transporting senior citizens under G.S. 115C-243), while the bus is displaying its mechanical stop signal, and is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging passengers, shall bring his vehicle to a full stop before passing or attempting to pass the bus, and shall remain stopped until the mechanical stop signal has been withdrawn or until the bus has moved on." (Emphasis added). - G.S. 20-4.01 defines "highway" and "street" as follows:
"(13) Highway — The entire width between property or right-of-way lines of every way or place of whatever nature, when any part thereof is open to the use of the public as a matter of right for the purposes of vehicular traffic. The terms 'highway' and 'street' and their cognates are synonymous."
"(46) Street — A highway, as defined in subdivision (13). The terms 'highway' and 'street' and their cognates are synonymous."
G.S. 20-217 is a safety statute designed to prevent the passing of a school bus, displaying its mechanical stop signal while receiving or discharging passengers, by a motorist from either direction on the same street or highway for the purpose of assuring safe passageway of children or senior citizens across the street or highway or to a place of safety. The only exception is where the street or highway is divided into two roadways which are separated by an intervening space or a physical barrier and such roadway is not occupied by a school bus. G.S. 20-217(c).
Statutes creating criminal offenses must be strictly construed against the State and in favor of a defendant. State v. Ross, 272 NC 67, 157 SE 2d 712 (1967); State v. Hageman, 307 NC 1, 296 SE 2d 433 (1982); State v. Richardson, 307 NC 692, 300 SE 2d 379 (1983); State v. Glidden, 317 NC 557, 346 SE 2d 470 (1986).
By its clear wording, G.S. 20-217 applies only to streets and highways. Since John Roach Drive is not open to the public as a matter of right, it is not a street or highway as defined by G.S. 20-4.01(13) and, therefore, it is not within the purview of G.S. 20-217. Passing a stopped school bus displaying a mechanical stop signal while receiving or discharging passengers on John Roach Drive would not be a violation of G.S. 20-217. A "public vehicular area" is defined by G.S. 20-4.01(32) and includes any area that is generally open to and used by the public for vehicular traffic. While some of the motor vehicle laws apply to "public vehicular areas" (i.e. G.S. 20-138.1; G.S. 20-140; G.S. 20-140.2) as well as streets and highways, G.S. 20-217 has no application to "public vehicular areas".
LACY H. THORNBURG Attorney General
William B. Ray Assistant Attorney General