Minnesota Senate Passes School Bus Safety Bill, Closing Court-Created Loophole

ST. PAUL, MN

The Minnesota Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan school bus safety bill Monday, moving quickly to close a legal loophole created by a state Court of Appeals ruling that had alarmed child safety advocates and school transportation officials across Minnesota.

Senate File 3623, authored by Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart, DFL-Minnetonka, passed by a 67-0 vote and now heads to the House for consideration.

If the bill becomes law, drivers will be required to stop at least 20 feet from any school bus displaying flashing red lights, regardless of whether the stop arm is extended. All vehicles waiting for the bus must remain stationary until the lights stop flashing. The bill also codifies that flashing amber lights serve as a formal warning to drivers that the bus is coming to a stop and flashing red lights are coming next.

"Today's bipartisan vote for this bill is for all Minnesota school students," said Sen. Johnson Stewart. "I'm glad that we could take quick action together to rectify a law that could put our children in serious danger, and ensure drivers use caution when approaching school buses."

The Court Ruling That Prompted the Bill

The legislation is a direct response to a September 2025 Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling in State v. Waln. Allison Waln, a Baxter, Minnesota woman, was charged in 2024 with failing to stop for a school bus in Crow Wing County. A jury found her guilty and she was ordered to pay a $660 fine. Waln appealed, and the three-member appeals panel overturned her conviction, ruling that the moment a driver is legally required to stop for a school bus is when the stop-signal arm is fully extended, not when it is in the process of being extended. In Waln's case, it took approximately two seconds for the arm to fully extend.

Under Minnesota Statute 169.444, motorists are required to stop at least 20 feet from a bus if it is stopped and displaying an extended stop-signal arm and flashing red lights. Violators of the statute face a misdemeanor conviction. The court found that because Waln's truck was already within 20 feet of the bus before the arm completed its extension, she had no legal duty to stop under the existing language of the law.

The ruling set a statewide precedent that traffic is only required to stop for school bus stop arms if they are fully extended with flashing lights on, based on how the state law is written. Child safety advocates and school officials immediately warned that the decision created a dangerous opening for drivers to avoid accountability by timing their passage to coincide with the arm's deployment window.

What the New Bill Does

The legislation directly addresses the ambiguity exposed by the Waln ruling. Sen. Johnson Stewart's bill clarifies that drivers have an obligation to stop when the school bus displays flashing red lights, regardless of whether the stop arm has fully extended. The bill also establishes that a driver is warned to prepare to stop when a school bus displays flashing amber lights.

The bill now moves to the Minnesota House for further consideration.

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