§378. School bus body, hood, and bumpers; color of paint; back-up audible alarms

            A. Every school bus that is used to transport students to and from home or school bus stops shall be painted national school bus yellow except that the hood shall be painted the same color or lusterless black and its roof may be painted white. Bumpers shall be painted glossy black, except that for increased night visibility they may be covered with a retroreflective material.

            B. Any school bus that is not used to transport students to and from home or school bus stops shall be painted a color other than national school bus yellow, and all lights, signals, and other devices and any lettering identifying the vehicle as a school bus shall be removed.

            C. Nothing contained in this Section shall prohibit a yellow school bus owned by a church from being used for other church related purposes.

            D. Every new school bus ordered or purchased after August 15, 1993, and every used bus not in service as a school bus on that date, but put into service as a school bus thereafter, shall be equipped with an automatic back-up audible alarm which sounds on backing and which is capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than one hundred feet. The alarm shall also be capable of operating automatically when the vehicle is in neutral or a forward gear but rolls backward.

            Acts 1983, No. 700, §1; Acts 1990, No. 652, §2; Acts 1993, No. 493, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 1993; Acts 2022, No. 640, §2.