$300 ticket for not stopping on 4 lane road for school bus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of the excuses and rationalizing here are shocking. Basically people are saying that they can't be expected to stop for or see a bus because they are inattentive, distracted, the sun is in their eyes, they didn't know the rules, etc. Really?

Guess what? The moments you are inattentive, distracted, or can't see, are exactly the moments where you hit something or someone. Which is why these laws exist and which is why the privilege of having a driver's license assumes that you will be paying attention and able to see where you're going and what's around you, and that you know the rules of the road. Now, we all know reality is different and no one's perfect. But that's why when you fall down, you pay the ticket. Not continue to make a litany of excuses which just sound like case studies for bad driving.

The post with the excuse about the sun being in your eyes and not seeing the bus on Rockville Pike is beyond ridiculous. If you can't see where you're going and what's around you, why the heck are you continuing to press the accelerator? You didn't see the bus, what else might you not have seen? I've had plenty of moments of bad driving myself, but when it happens, I'm embarrassed and try to acknowledge that it's no one's fault but my own and that if something bad had happened, a litany of excuses and apologies would not have undone that thing or gotten me out of the consequences. Come on. If you're confused about the rules with a stopped bus, why wouldn't you just play it safe and stop?

I think we all agree you are supposed to stop, even OP. But to pretend most drivers are or should be paying attention to what is going on 4 lanes over, on the opposite side of the ride, in the far lane is dumb. You aren’t. 99 percent of the time when people are driving they are focused on what is directly in front of them and what is happening in the lanes directly on either side.

But drivers should be paying attention to what is happening four lanes over. That’s the law. If you can’t do this, then slow down and give yourself more time to take a look around and notice the big yellow school bus with the flashing lights, operating during morning school drop off and afternoon school dismissal times. Big. Yellow. Flashing lights.

Op here. It was actually a small yellow bus so there’s that

You should have mentioned this earlier! This changes everything.


😐

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The people piling on the OP are ridiculous. OP, go ahead and contest the ticket, see what happens.

Maybe you should know better, but I also know municipalities do all sort of crazy revenue schemes in the name of safety. I also know we should all be as safe as possible around school buses. See what the judge says.

Yes please, I hope the judge doubles her fine because she's so damn dumb.

They can’t/won’t do that. Everyone is free to have an informal hearing and explain themselves. Especially with a camera ticket, the judge cannot just decide to give her more charges- unless she admits to a greater offense.

Going to court and saying she didn’t notice the bus because it was four lanes over, traffic was in between, she just turned, are all plausible reasons- the judge will either say sorry, ticket stands, or reduce the points if she does a driving course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised because the other side (side I was on) only has a fire department and gas station. The kids were getting dropped off at a daycare (opposite side). The road is also fairly busy. Has anyone ever had the same thing happen to you? I always stop for the bus when I am on 2 lane roads. I’m thinking about going to the hearing.

Thank you

I hope you go and get a good lecture from the judge. You monster.

[Anonymous]

I'm never sure quite what to do in this situation - There's a bus coming towards you that turns on its yellow flashing lights. It stops. So you stop. But it doesn't turn on the red lights. It just sits there with the yellow ones flashing. So you sit there too. You don't want to go because it may turn on the red lights any second. So you are just sitting there and sitting there and traffic is now backing up behind you. Sometimes the bus driver will wave you through. But other times the driver does nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The people piling on the OP are ridiculous. OP, go ahead and contest the ticket, see what happens.

Maybe you should know better, but I also know municipalities do all sort of crazy revenue schemes in the name of safety. I also know we should all be as safe as possible around school buses. See what the judge says.

Yes please, I hope the judge doubles her fine because she's so damn dumb.

They can’t/won’t do that. Everyone is free to have an informal hearing and explain themselves. Especially with a camera ticket, the judge cannot just decide to give her more charges- unless she admits to a greater offense.

Going to court and saying she didn’t notice the bus because it was four lanes over, traffic was in between, she just turned, are all plausible reasons- the judge will either say sorry, ticket stands, or reduce the points if she does a driving course.

Two things. Camera tickets don’t come with points. They go to the owner of the car unless you say someone else was driving and identify that person. Second, there are court fees for disputing a ticket. So it’s not free and when you lose it adds to the total you will pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The people piling on the OP are ridiculous. OP, go ahead and contest the ticket, see what happens.

Maybe you should know better, but I also know municipalities do all sort of crazy revenue schemes in the name of safety. I also know we should all be as safe as possible around school buses. See what the judge says.

Yes please, I hope the judge doubles her fine because she's so damn dumb.

They can’t/won’t do that. Everyone is free to have an informal hearing and explain themselves. Especially with a camera ticket, the judge cannot just decide to give her more charges- unless she admits to a greater offense.

Going to court and saying she didn’t notice the bus because it was four lanes over, traffic was in between, she just turned, are all plausible reasons- the judge will either say sorry, ticket stands, or reduce the points if she does a driving course.

Two things. Camera tickets don’t come with points. They go to the owner of the car unless you say someone else was driving and identify that person. Second, there are court fees for disputing a ticket. So it’s not free and when you lose it adds to the total you will pay.

Yes, of course there are court fees. But the judge can’t arbitrarily say instead of the $300 ticket, it will be $500, or whatever number they feel like (plus fees)

[Anonymous]

OP, what you need to do is go on the subreddit for the geographic location where you got the ticket and say "I got a ticket on x road in y city/county--if I go to court, will they offer any opportunities to reduce the fines/points?"

I would not say what the ticket was for. What you want to know is if that jurisdiction will offer you to plead to a lesser offense and do traffic school (often online now) to reduce the points on your license.

The fees may be fixed (where I live the judge can't reduce fees for tickets in school or construction zones) but you can likely get the points down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The law on stopping for a school bus is crystal clear. IMO the penalty should be the same as DUI because you are selfishly endangering children and shouldn’t have a license.

Pay the fine and be grateful it’s so low.

Children aren’t getting dropped off across the street at the fire department. They were going to DAYCARE at 11:53 am in the morning. Most likely right after half day kindergarten. There should be some exceptions when they know children won’t be crossing the street.

There should not be any exceptions. Children, especially children that young, are unpredictable.

Op here. I think it was also the traffic lights that also made it confusing because I just had a green light and turned the corner. I think I was in the front of the line. I don’t think I’ve ever came across a school bus on a 4 lane road. I’ve always stopped obviously on 2 land roads.

Quit making excuses OP. You were clearly wrong, pay the ticket and learn the lesson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The law on stopping for a school bus is crystal clear. IMO the penalty should be the same as DUI because you are selfishly endangering children and shouldn’t have a license.

Pay the fine and be grateful it’s so low.

Children aren’t getting dropped off across the street at the fire department. They were going to DAYCARE at 11:53 am in the morning. Most likely right after half day kindergarten. There should be some exceptions when they know children won’t be crossing the street.

What makes you qualified to guess where those children are going? All you need to do is stop your car and stop thinking.