Passing a stopped school bus in Georgia carries one of two very different penalties depending on how you were caught. If a police officer witnessed it, you’re facing a high and aggravated misdemeanor with a minimum $1,000 fine, up to 12 months in jail, and six points on your license. If a camera on the bus caught it, you’ll get a civil citation in the mail for a flat $1,000, with no points and no insurance report on a first offense.1Justia. Georgia Code 40-6-163 – Duty of Driver of Vehicle Meeting or Overtaking School Bus
Two Enforcement Tracks, Two Very Different Penalties
Georgia enforces school bus stop violations through officers and through bus-mounted cameras, and the track you land on determines everything that follows. An officer-issued citation is criminal. A camera citation is civil. The elevated classification took effect July 1, 2024 under Addy’s Law, which also raised the camera penalty from $250 to $1,000.
Officer-Issued Citations
An officer who sees you pass a stopped bus will pull you over and write a criminal citation. Since July 1, 2024, that citation is a high and aggravated misdemeanor, a step up from a regular misdemeanor. The consequences:
- A fine between $1,000 and $5,000.2FindLaw. Georgia Code Title 17 Criminal Procedure 17-10-4
- Up to 12 months in jail. The high and aggravated classification matters here: any jail time served does not get two-for-one credit, so each day counts as one day.
- Six points added to your Georgia driving record.3Georgia Department of Driver Services. Points Schedule
- A mandatory court appearance. You cannot pay this ticket online and walk away.
Six points on a single ticket is heavy. Georgia suspends a license at 15 points in a 24-month window, so one school bus conviction uses up almost half your margin. Drivers under 21 operate under a lower point threshold, and six points from a single violation can trigger a suspension on its own.
Camera-Issued Citations
Many Georgia school buses carry exterior cameras that record vehicles passing while the red lights flash and the stop arm is deployed. If the footage shows a violation, a civil citation is mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner within ten days of the agency obtaining the owner’s information.1Justia. Georgia Code 40-6-163 – Duty of Driver of Vehicle Meeting or Overtaking School Bus
The fine is a flat $1,000. A first camera offense adds no points to your license and is not reported to your insurance company. That changes on a second or subsequent camera violation, which the law enforcement agency is required to report to your insurer.1Justia. Georgia Code 40-6-163 – Duty of Driver of Vehicle Meeting or Overtaking School Bus
Important distinction: a camera citation goes to whoever owns the vehicle, not whoever was driving it. You can receive one even if someone else had your car.
When Georgia Actually Requires You to Stop
You must stop when a school bus activates its flashing red lights and extends its stop arm, and stay stopped until the bus moves again or the driver turns off the signals.1Justia. Georgia Code 40-6-163 – Duty of Driver of Vehicle Meeting or Overtaking School Bus
On a two-lane road, a multi-lane road without a physical divider, or a road with a center turn lane, traffic in both directions has to stop.4Georgia Department of Driver Services. Section 9 Continued – Sharing the Road The only exception is a road with a physical separation between opposing lanes: a grass median, an unpaved strip, or a concrete barrier. On a divided highway like that, only vehicles traveling the same direction as the bus must stop. A painted line or center turn lane does not count. If you could legally cross into the bus’s lane without going over a curb, median, or barrier, you were required to stop.
What to Do If You Got a Camera Citation in the Mail
The notice will show the date, time, and location of the violation, the $1,000 penalty, and a payment deadline. You get at least 30 business days from the mailing date to review the camera evidence, including video and still images.1Justia. Georgia Code 40-6-163 – Duty of Driver of Vehicle Meeting or Overtaking School Bus
You have three choices:
- Pay the fine online, by mail, or by phone using the instructions on the notice. That ends the matter.
- Contest the citation by submitting a sworn affidavit. Recognized grounds include proof that the vehicle had been sold before the violation date or had been reported stolen.5City of Marietta, GA. Affidavit of Non-Responsibility / Notice to Contest
- Ignore it. Bad idea. The Georgia Department of Revenue can block renewal of your vehicle’s registration until the fine is paid.1Justia. Georgia Code 40-6-163 – Duty of Driver of Vehicle Meeting or Overtaking School Bus
Watch the footage before you decide. It should clearly show your vehicle passing while the red lights were active and the stop arm was out. Ambiguous video, or video showing the bus already deactivating its signals, is worth contesting.
What It Does to Your Insurance
An officer-issued conviction lands on your driving record with six points, and your insurer will find it. This is one of the violations that triggers the steepest premium hikes, and the increase tends to stay in place for several years. Insurers treat it as a serious lapse because of the risk to children.
A first camera citation should not affect your premium at all, because Georgia law blocks it from being reported to your insurer. A second camera violation gets reported, and once it does, the rate impact looks similar to any other serious moving violation. Increases in the range of 12 to 35 percent are common depending on carrier and coverage.
Reducing the Points If You’re Convicted
If you’re convicted on an officer-issued citation, a certified Driver Improvement course (defensive driving) can remove up to seven points from your record. You can only use this option once every five years.6Georgia Department of Driver Services. Points and Points Reduction
The course doesn’t erase the conviction. The high and aggravated misdemeanor stays on your criminal record, and your insurer can still use it in rating decisions. What it does is keep your point total away from the 15-point suspension threshold, which matters if you already have other recent violations on your record.
If You Hold a CDL
Commercial driver’s license holders have federal reporting duties on top of Georgia’s state penalties. You must notify your employer and your CDL-issuing state of any traffic conviction within 30 days of the conviction date.7eCFR. Part 383 Commercial Driver’s License Standards; Requirements and Penalties If the conviction brings a license suspension or disqualification, you must notify your employer before the end of the next business day.
Federal disqualification periods for serious traffic violations start at 60 days. A second serious violation within three years can mean 120 days off the road commercially. For a CDL holder, even a camera citation is worth close attention, because anything appearing in a background or compliance review can create professional problems.
If You Hold an Out-of-State License
An officer-issued conviction in Georgia will usually follow you home. Georgia belongs to the Driver License Compact, which shares conviction and suspension information among member states. Your home state typically treats the Georgia conviction as if it had happened locally and applies its own points and penalties.
Camera citations generally don’t travel the same way, because they’re civil penalties against the vehicle owner rather than moving violations against a driver. The catch is the Georgia registration hold: if you ignore the fine, you may run into trouble the next time you try to register or transfer the vehicle.