Summary: Kentucky’s new bus-stopping rule took effect July 15. Ohio’s is coming. Indiana’s is already the strictest. Here’s what Tri-State drivers and parents need to know.

If you commute anywhere in the Tri-State, you cross a state line without thinking about it. Down I-71/75 into Covington. Out I-74 toward Lawrenceburg. Over the Combs-Hehl and back. Most traffic rules travel with you.

The rule about stopping for a school bus does not.

As of this school year, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana each answer the same question — when do I have to stop? — a little differently. And Kentucky just changed its answer.

Kentucky: the rule changed on July 15

House Bill 7 took effect in the middle of July, and it altered the one situation most drivers thought they had figured out.

Under the old law, if you were traveling in the opposite direction on a highway with four or more lanes, you did not have to stop for a school bus. A lot of people learned that rule and drove by it for years.

That is no longer accurate. Under HB 7, drivers must stop for a school or church bus with its stop arm out and red lights flashing when approaching from either direction on any highway — unless the road is divided by an elevated barrier or an unpaved median.

Two details do most of the damage here:

  • A center turn lane does not count as a median. If the only thing separating you from the bus is paint and a shared left-turn lane, you stop.
  • Four lanes is no longer the magic number. A four-lane road with no physical barrier now requires oncoming traffic to stop.

Think about how many roads in Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties fit that description. Dixie Highway. Alexandria Pike. Long stretches of four-lane commercial road with a turn lane down the middle and no barrier anywhere. Under the old rule, oncoming traffic rolled through. Under the new one, it stops.

Kentucky also strengthened enforcement. Districts can now install stop-arm cameras. A camera-caught violation carries a $300 civil penalty for a first offense and $500 for each additional violation within three years — and if the driver can’t be identified from the footage, the law presumes the registered owner was behind the wheel unless that presumption is successfully rebutted. Criminal fines and possible jail time also went up for repeat offenses, with at least six points added to the license per conviction. Covington police have warned that violations can reach $1,000.

Ohio: tougher penalties are coming, but the stopping rule stays the same

The Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 3 — the School Bus Safety Act — in June and sent it to the governor. It is a significant penalty increase:

  • First-offense fines rise from the current $0–$500 range to $250–$1,000
  • Repeat violations can reach $350–$2,000, with longer license suspensions
  • Drivers who reoffend within five years must complete a state-developed safety course
  • Cameras mounted on buses are expressly authorized to record violations, with a civil enforcement path when the driver can’t be identified
  • Fine revenue feeds a new School Bus Safety Fund that helps districts pay for safety equipment

The bill takes effect 90 days after it’s signed, which means it was not in place when Ohio students went back this month. Parents and drivers should expect it to land partway through the school year.

Here is the part Ohio drivers need to sit with: HB 3 raises penalties. It does not change when you have to stop. Ohio still exempts oncoming traffic on a highway with four or more lanes of divided traffic.

Which means Ohio and Kentucky now point in opposite directions on the exact same road configuration. The four-lane road where you legally keep driving in Ohio is a road where you legally have to stop in Kentucky. That’s a ten-minute drive apart in this region.

Indiana: no change, and already the strictest

Indiana didn’t pass a new bus-passing law in 2026 — because it did the heavy lifting in 2019, after the Rochester crash that killed three siblings at a bus stop.

Indiana law requires drivers to stop when they meet or overtake a stopped bus with its stop arm extended from any direction, with a narrow exception for opposite-direction traffic on a multi-lane highway divided by a physical barrier or an unimproved median. In other words, Indiana got to essentially where Kentucky just arrived — seven years earlier.

The penalties are the harshest of the three states:

  • A basic violation is a Class A infraction, with license suspension up to 90 days for a first offense and up to a year for a repeat
  • Passing a stopped bus recklessly is a Class A misdemeanor
  • If it causes bodily injury, it becomes a Level 6 felony
  • If it causes a death, it becomes a Level 5 felony
  • Courts may also impose a “safe schools” fee of $200 to $1,000

Indiana also applies a rebuttable presumption that the vehicle’s registered owner committed the violation.

The practical takeaway

If you only remember one thing: the four-lane exception is not the same in all three states, and one of them just changed.

The safest habit is the simplest one. Red lights and an extended stop arm mean stop, from either direction, unless there is a genuine physical barrier or unpaved median between you and the bus. That rule is now correct in Kentucky and Indiana, and it will never get you a ticket in Ohio.

If your child was hurt at a bus stop

Fines and license points are the state’s business. They are not compensation, and a traffic case does not make an injured family whole.

When a driver ignores a stop arm and a child is struck, the criminal or civil citation is only one piece of a much larger picture. A separate civil claim can pursue medical expenses, future care, lost income for parents who leave work to provide care, and pain and suffering. Evidence matters enormously and disappears quickly — stop-arm camera footage, which several districts are now installing, is often subject to retention limits measured in weeks rather than months. In Kentucky, for instance, recorded images that don’t result in a violation notice must be destroyed within 31 days.

Which state’s law applies also matters more than most families expect. It shapes the standard of care, the deadline to file, and how a violation of the statute is treated as evidence of negligence. A crash three miles apart can be governed by very different rules.

Godbey Law has represented injured people across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 1993. If your child was injured at or near a school bus stop, or you were hurt in a crash involving a school bus, we offer a free consultation and handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis.

Call (513) 241-6650 or contact us to talk with an attorney.

This article is provided for general information and is not legal advice. Laws change and their application depends on the specific facts of your situation. For advice about a particular matter, consult an attorney.