(A) Except as provided in division (B) below, the operator of any bus, any school vehicle, or any vehicle transporting material required to be placarded under 49 C.F.R. pts. 100 through 185, before crossing at grade any track of a railroad, shall stop the vehicle, and while so stopped, shall listen through an open door or open window, and look in both directions along the track for any approaching train and for signals indicating the approach of a train, and shall proceed only upon exercising due care after stopping, looking, and listening as required by this section. Upon proceeding, the operator of such a vehicle shall cross only in a gear that will ensure there will be no necessity for changing gears while traversing the crossing, and shall not shift gears while crossing the tracks.
(B) This section does not apply at grade crossings when any local authority has filed an application with the Public Utilities Commission requesting the approval of an exempt crossing, and the Public Utilities Commission has authorized and approved an exempt crossing as provided in R.C. § 4511.63(B).
(C) As used in this section:
BUS. Means any vehicle originally designed by its manufacturer to transport 16 or more passengers, including the driver, or carries 16 or more passengers, including the driver.
EXEMPT CROSSING. Means a highway rail grade crossing authorized and approved by the Public Utilities Commission under R.C. § 4511.63(B) at which vehicles may cross without making the stop otherwise required by this section.
SCHOOL VEHICLE. Means any vehicle used for the transportation of pupils to and from a school or school-related function if the vehicle is owned or operated by, or operated under contract with, a public or nonpublic school.
(D) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one or more violations of this section or R.C. § 4511.63, 4511.76, 4511.761, 4511.762, 4511.764, 4511.77, or 4511.79, or a municipal ordinance that is substantially equivalent to any of those sections, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(R.C. § 4511.63) (2000 Code, § 72.47)