[spike021]

Fairly sure (though it likely depends on geographic location laws) that no matter your lane you need to stop if a bus displays its stop sign and lights, because, like you said, kids might try crossing the street at any time/place. So a self-driving car might be a lane or two away from the bus (not directly behind it) and still need to know to stop.

[Dylan16807]

The exact rules do depend on the area. Where I am you always have to stop behind a bus on your side in any lane, but traffic on the other side does not have to stop if there are 4+ lanes.

[mkmdy]

Much of the material I studied for my learners permit written test has since become just part of how I drive (I hope), but the rules regarding stopping for school-busses have always stuck with me for some reason.

In Florida, the rule is that all traffic going in either direction must stop, except when the road is "a divided highway with an unpaved space of at least 5 feet, a raised median, or a physical barrier"[0], in which case the opposing traffic does not have to stop. It's interesting to me to see how little things like this change from place to place, and how these localized rules will be handled by self-driving vehicles.

[0]http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Displ...