Cal. VEH § 12517.1
This is the official text of Cal. VEH § 12517.1, part of California’s Vehicle Code — governs traffic laws, driver's licenses, and vehicle registration.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Official statutory text
(a) A “schoolbus accident” means any of the following:
(1) A motor vehicle accident resulting in property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or personal injury, on public or private property, and involving a schoolbus, youth bus, school pupil activity bus, or general public paratransit vehicle transporting a pupil.
(2) A collision between a vehicle and a pupil or a schoolbus driver while the pupil or driver is crossing the highway when the schoolbus flashing red signal lamps are required to be operated pursuant to Section 22112 or when the schoolbus is stopped for the purpose of loading or unloading pupils.
(3) Injury of a pupil inside a vehicle described in paragraph (1) as a result of acceleration, deceleration, or other movement of the vehicle.
(b) The Department of the California Highway Patrol shall investigate all schoolbus accidents, except that accidents involving only property damage and occurring entirely on private property shall be investigated only if they involve a violation of this code.
(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2017.
(1) A motor vehicle accident resulting in property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or personal injury, on public or private property, and involving a schoolbus, youth bus, school pupil activity bus, or general public paratransit vehicle transporting a pupil.
(2) A collision between a vehicle and a pupil or a schoolbus driver while the pupil or driver is crossing the highway when the schoolbus flashing red signal lamps are required to be operated pursuant to Section 22112 or when the schoolbus is stopped for the purpose of loading or unloading pupils.
(3) Injury of a pupil inside a vehicle described in paragraph (1) as a result of acceleration, deceleration, or other movement of the vehicle.
(b) The Department of the California Highway Patrol shall investigate all schoolbus accidents, except that accidents involving only property damage and occurring entirely on private property shall be investigated only if they involve a violation of this code.
(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2017.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in California?
Find a California lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.