International School Bus Yellow

[o1marc]

National School Bus Yellow

I know we are legally required to change the color to anything but NSBY, but I see lots of Skoolies out there that have never been painted. Has anyone ever heard of anyone getting cited for having their bus yellow?

 

[EastCoastCB]

I know we are legally required to change the color to anything but ISBY, but I see lots of Skoolies out there that have never been painted. Has anyone ever heard of anyone getting cited for having their bus yellow?

Its actually called National School Bus Chrome Yellow. Or National School Bus Glossy Yellow.
FL doesn't seem to care if you repaint or not. I've driven around in yellow buses quite a bit and they're basically invisible to most folks.

 

[o1marc]

Its actually called National School Bus Chrome Yellow. Or National School Bus Glossy Yellow.
FL doesn't seem to care if you repaint or not. I've driven around in yellow buses quite a bit and they're basically invisible to most folks.

Edited correction.

 

[jjhwick119]

I haven't seen it talked about much, but from what I've gathered some states specifically say it's not allowed, but others don't have any laws regarding it. I have not done the research to back this up though

 

[o1marc]

I haven't seen it talked about much, but from what I've gathered some states specifically say it's not allowed, but others don't have any laws regarding it. I have not done the research to back this up though

I think it's a Federal thing that applies to all school buses.

 

[EastCoastCB]

I think it's a Federal thing that applies to all school buses.

I think it may vary, but FL has its own statute-
Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

Add driving a yellow bus to the list of fun misdemeanors!

So many folks do it I don't think the cops must care much. Still a good idea to repaint!!

 

[cadillackid]

i finally figured out ohio law.. if its less than 25 years old its not supposed to be yellow.. if its over 25 years old, it becomes a "classic" and can stay yellow with all original markings as long as "school bus" and the school name are covered up when driving it.... bus collectors use magentics so they can display their busses all original at shows

 

[PNW_Steve]

I think it's a Federal thing that applies to all school buses.

I have done a fair bit of searching and have seen several references to state laws but nothing regarding Federal law.

I asked our County Sheriff who is also a retired State Patrol seargent. He told me that there is no restriction on my keeping my buses yellow.

My best understanding is that it is regulated state by state.

 

[o1marc]

I think it may vary, but FL has its own statute-
Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

Add driving a yellow bus to the list of fun misdemeanors!

So many folks do it I don't think the cops must care much. Still a good idea to repaint!!

s

I doubt many cops even know it's a thing, let alone care about it. I imagine it would be an addition to a list of charges from a cop having a really bad day. It's like fiberglas gas tanks are not legal on a street motorcycle, but most cops don't know that.

 

[Johnny Mullet]

I had no issues here in Ohio and had 2 local cops actually tour the inside of my bus and never said anything about painting it. The laws must vary state to state.

 

[o1marc]

I had no issues here in Ohio and had 2 local cops actually tour the inside of my bus and never said anything about painting it. The laws must vary state to state.

There are a gazilion laws, cops know a very small percentage of them, this one ain't high on the list.

 

[Tango-SKO]

My understanding is that it is on a state-by-state where registered basis. Some are persnickety, some are not.

 

[Johnny Mullet]

So if it is legal in my state or the state the bus is registered in to keep it school bus yellow, can another state bust your balls about it if you are traveling through?

 

[o1marc]

So if it is legal in my state or the state the bus is registered in to keep it school bus yellow, can another state bust your balls about it if you are traveling through?

Wait, I thought we were invisible.

 

[Tango-SKO]

Once again...based only on my "understanding"...there is reciprocity. Just as some states require annual inspections and some do not...the ones that do require it only have jurisdiction within their own state on their own state's registered vehicles. Not on any passing through.



Happy to hear any other interpretation.

 

[o1marc]

Once again...based only on my "understanding"...there is reciprocity. Just as some states require annual inspections and some do not...the ones that do require it only have jurisdiction within their own state on their own state's registered vehicles. Not on any passing through.



Happy to hear any other interpretation.

I'm good with that.

 

[Mark_In_MA]

So the federal rules are a little. . .complicated.

https://icsw.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/whatsup/tea21/tea21programs/
From the NHTSA "Uniform Guidelines for State Highway Safety Programs"


"Section 402 of title 23 of the United States Code requires the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate uniform guidelines for State highway safety programs. These guidelines offer direction to States in formulating their highway safety plans for highway safety efforts that are supported with section 402 and other grant funds. The guidelines provide a framework for developing a balanced highway safety program and serve as a tool with which States can assess the effectiveness of their own programs. NHTSA encourages States to use these guidelines and build upon them to optimize the effectiveness of highway safety programs conducted at the State and local levels."

This is the into paragraph for the entire rule packet. I added the bold sections - essentially, the NHTSA came up with a set of suggested standards, and it encourages each state to use them as a framework for their own state rules. The federal government says "we suggest you do this" to the states, and it's up to the individual states to actually do it.




Guideline 17, Section 1 : Program Management says

- Be painted National School Bus Glossy Yellow, in accordance with the colorimetric specification of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Federal Standard No. 595a, Color 13432; except that the hood should be either that color or lusterless black, matching NIST Federal Standard No. 595a, Color 37038.




-Have bumpers of glossy black, matching NIST Federal Standard No. 595a, Color 17038, unless, for increased visibility, they are covered with a reflective material;




At the END, it also says


"Any school bus meeting the recommendations above that is permanently converted for uses other than transporting children to and from school should be painted a color other than National School Bus Glossy Yellow, and should have the stop arms and school bus signal lamps removed.



School buses, while being operated on a public highway and transporting primarily passengers other than school children, should have the words “School Bus” covered, removed, or otherwise concealed, and the stop arm and signal lamps should not be operated."

As I said at the start, these are /suggestions/ from the NHTSA. How much of it individual states might have codified into law varies.

 

[Tigerman67]

As others have said, it is state specific and probably largely not followed even in the states that have it on the books since its probably not well known.


If anyone knows of a complete list of states that have it on the books, that would be a great reference.



But I do remember seeing other people mention getting ticketed for it, and I think it was California specifically. I think it might have been a weigh station or other DOT kind of officer that was probably more familiar with the commercial side of the house that wrote that ticket.



I don't think my home state of Colorado cares, but I am traveling to SD soon, and I found a reference that they care, so I am trying to paint my bus quickly in the next couple of weeks.



You would think that if my state doesn't care then they should respect that through reciprocity, but I do remember in my younger days while in the military in TX, that the TX cops loved writing tickets for some specific TX laws, didn't matter what state your plates were from. So maybe legally they should recognize it, but are you going to travel back to a state you are visiting and hire a lawyer for a (hopefully) less than $100 ticket? In the case of SD, they bring in volunteer officers from all over for Sturgis so who knows which officers are familiar with which laws, so I assume its better to just try to get some color on it other than yellow.



As far as legal remedies goes, National School Bus Yellow is a very specific color, which I think if you have a law it has to be specific. My bus currently has multiple shades of yellow from Fading, and each bus company has a slightly different shade of School Bus Yellow, so if you had an expensive lawyer, he might be able to argue that your bus was yellow, but they had no way to prove it was specifically NSBY. See above, about it not being worth it to fight a nonmoving violation that has a low fine.

 

[somewhereinusa]

This is just an observation since it doesn't apply to me. It Indiana you can't get the title changed to your name if it's still yellow. Changing the color was the very first thing I did. I really didn't want it to look like a school bus although, there is no doubt that it was.

While it is true that there are some states that do not care, if you are going to be traveling in any state that does care, why draw attention to yourself? I guarantee that if a LEO stops you because it is illegal in his state and, you happen to be able to convince him that it is OK in yours, he will be able to find something to ticket you for if he wants to. NONE of us is 100% legal. Why take the chance?

Unless you are just in love with that bus you rode in when you were a rug rat or, are doing a restoration on an old or really unique bus, what's the point? If it's for "safety", a better choice would be road cone orange or that really bright green that seems to be getting popular. Wal-Mart seems to have that in their clothing line this summer does everyone want to look like a highway dept worker?

 

[djdalfaro]

I have searched the TX codes and have not found anything that prohibits a privately owned bus from being NSBGY. There is a law regarding other commercial buses not being painted the color, such as school activity buses, but it is silent on privately owned buses. TX Administrative Code RULE §61.1028.

Of course we can go down the rabbit hole of what our vehicles are are. If the conversion is completed they can be titled as a motorhome. I believe if enough seats have been removed it can be titled as a van as it doesn't fit the legal definition of a bus in TX Transportation Code 541.201.

"(3) "Bus" means:
(A) a motor vehicle used to transport persons and designed to accommodate more than 10 passengers, including the operator; or
( a motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used to transport persons for compensation."