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

[Anonymous]

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.

Cars stopping at school buses isn't some kind of crazy revenue stream. You see the lights flashing you stop. It should be 100% automatic for every driver. Adding weird rules like "unless it's Kindergarten drop off" or "depending on what's on the other side of the street" or "unless you are confused by traffic lights" puts kids at risk. It needs to be perfectly simple. School bus lights = stop.

[Anonymous]

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.

"Pay the clerk the fine and added court costs on your way out. Next case" probably.

[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.

The issue is children are unpredictable. If they’re young enough to have half day/go to a day care, they could have easily crossed the wrong way or darted into traffic. There’s a reason you need to stop

[Anonymous]

School bus tickets are a popular scam because they can raise obscene funds while crying crocodile tears about "the children" instead of considering where is a safe place to stop and safe way to separate kids from traffic. They are pushed by profiteers as a moneymaker for the municipal.
Same as red light camera tickets on short yellow lights.

[Anonymous]

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.

The issue is children are unpredictable. If they’re young enough to have half day/go to a day care, they could have easily crossed the wrong way or darted into traffic. There’s a reason you need to stop

Then don't dump kids in the street. Hold their hand and walk them in.
What happens when the bus is gone? The kid could still jump into traffic.

[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.

I once got a ticket because the driver popped out the stop sign while I was in the middle of an intersection, and I exited the intersection before stopping.

[Anonymous]

I hate the way school bus laws are implemented. I once received a ticket for not stopping for a school bus that had its stop sign up, when we were on a 4 lane road, WITH a median... but the bus was stopped at the sole point in the road when the median disappeared in favor of a very short left turn lane (so a 5 lane road). I saw the schoolbus, but did not see that the median had briefly disappeared. I was on the right-most lane, the bus was on its rightmost lane, so there were three lanes between us.

There is no blasted way any child is going to cross a 5 lane road in time for me to somehow not see them cross and thus get into an accident. In such circumstances, I really think getting a ticket is ridiculous.

I support schoolbus traffic rules when the roads are narrower, of course, because the shorter distance does pose a life-threatening risk to children who cross the road.

[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.

Cars stopping at school buses isn't some kind of crazy revenue stream. You see the lights flashing you stop. It should be 100% automatic for every driver. Adding weird rules like "unless it's Kindergarten drop off" or "depending on what's on the other side of the street" or "unless you are confused by traffic lights" puts kids at risk. It needs to be perfectly simple. School bus lights = stop.

It's never so simple, though, and that's why people complain. On multi-lane roads in traffic, it can get really tricky to see the school bus on the opposite side, multiple lanes away, figure out if there's a median, and then come to a screeching halt because you're now right at the level of the bus and you've just decided you need to stop... only to be rear-ended by the guy behind you because he wasn't expecting you to stop.

Most people around me have received tickets for not stopping for school buses and it's always a case of highly-trafficked, multi-lane roads like this, or the intersection case a PP was mentioning - when there's a distinct risk of collision if you don't clear the bloody intersection! If it's a simple 2 lane road with a school bus, obviously everyone stops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate the way school bus laws are implemented. I once received a ticket for not stopping for a school bus that had its stop sign up, when we were on a 4 lane road, WITH a median... but the bus was stopped at the sole point in the road when the median disappeared in favor of a very short left turn lane (so a 5 lane road). I saw the schoolbus, but did not see that the median had briefly disappeared. I was on the right-most lane, the bus was on its rightmost lane, so there were three lanes between us.

There is no blasted way any child is going to cross a 5 lane road in time for me to somehow not see them cross and thus get into an accident. In such circumstances, I really think getting a ticket is ridiculous.

I support schoolbus traffic rules when the roads are narrower, of course, because the shorter distance does pose a life-threatening risk to children who cross the road.

Op here. This sounds similar to my case. The bus seemed so far away and I was focused on making my turn and following the green light. I turned right onto the four lane road and the bus was way to the left of me.

[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.

Cars stopping at school buses isn't some kind of crazy revenue stream. You see the lights flashing you stop. It should be 100% automatic for every driver. Adding weird rules like "unless it's Kindergarten drop off" or "depending on what's on the other side of the street" or "unless you are confused by traffic lights" puts kids at risk. It needs to be perfectly simple. School bus lights = stop.

It's never so simple, though, and that's why people complain. On multi-lane roads in traffic, it can get really tricky to see the school bus on the opposite side, multiple lanes away, figure out if there's a median, and then come to a screeching halt because you're now right at the level of the bus and you've just decided you need to stop... only to be rear-ended by the guy behind you because he wasn't expecting you to stop.

Most people around me have received tickets for not stopping for school buses and it's always a case of highly-trafficked, multi-lane roads like this, or the intersection case a PP was mentioning - when there's a distinct risk of collision if you don't clear the bloody intersection! If it's a simple 2 lane road with a school bus, obviously everyone stops.

Op here. Omg thank you so much! I have a 3 month old and I am SO SO sleep deprived. My brain isn’t functioning properly. I don’t drive unless it’s absolutely necessary and I was headed back from preschool pickup.

[Anonymous]

I once had a bus go from nothing to yellow to immediate red on a 60 mph road. There was zero way to stop in time without rolling my vehicle. I paid the ticket.

Now you know, you MUST stop

[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.

Cars stopping at school buses isn't some kind of crazy revenue stream. You see the lights flashing you stop. It should be 100% automatic for every driver. Adding weird rules like "unless it's Kindergarten drop off" or "depending on what's on the other side of the street" or "unless you are confused by traffic lights" puts kids at risk. It needs to be perfectly simple. School bus lights = stop.

It's never so simple, though, and that's why people complain. On multi-lane roads in traffic, it can get really tricky to see the school bus on the opposite side, multiple lanes away, figure out if there's a median, and then come to a screeching halt because you're now right at the level of the bus and you've just decided you need to stop... only to be rear-ended by the guy behind you because he wasn't expecting you to stop.

Most people around me have received tickets for not stopping for school buses and it's always a case of highly-trafficked, multi-lane roads like this, or the intersection case a PP was mentioning - when there's a distinct risk of collision if you don't clear the bloody intersection! If it's a simple 2 lane road with a school bus, obviously everyone stops.

Op here. Omg thank you so much! I have a 3 month old and I am SO SO sleep deprived. My brain isn’t functioning properly. I don’t drive unless it’s absolutely necessary and I was headed back from preschool pickup.

That’s exactly why you need this ticket. You are not focused on driving. After this, you WILL stop for sure!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once had a bus go from nothing to yellow to immediate red on a 60 mph road. There was zero way to stop in time without rolling my vehicle. I paid the ticket.

Now you know, you MUST stop

And end up in hospital with even larger bills because you got into an accident trying to stop.

[Anonymous]

If you see a school bus, you should be prepared to stop. Whether they need to change routes or move stops to quieter streets means nothing when the question is whether YOU should stop. Bus = foot off the gas and on the brake.

Go ahead and contest it, OP. But pls don’t waste everyone’s time pleading fatigue. That’s impaired driving. Or confusion about the lights. That’s lack of understanding of driving laws.

On second thought, just pay the fine and come here and complain about it more. It will be cheaper in the end.

And just wait till your baby is riding a bus and some idiot doesn’t stop.

[Anonymous]

So you’re questioning whether you needed to stop for a bus with light flashing and the stop sign out? Yes, op. Unless it’s a divided road, you need to stop.

Sorry it took a ticket for you to learn this rule. But you should’ve learned in drivers Ed.