Passing or not passing school buses? Which is it?

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure you can't be ticketed for stopping dead in the roadway, unless you are driving on a highway below the posted minimum without your hazards on. Even then, if you have to come to a sudden stop because of a person, animal, or debris in the road, the people who run into you are the ones who are liable for rear-ending. Unless you live in a no-fault state and there is no police investigation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is scary to me that their are people driving around who don't know the answer to this question!

The median confuses things. Also, if you're routinely getting chastised (honked at) for doing something that you know is right, you begin to lose certainty after a bit. You start to wonder. Or at least, I do. But then, I'm aware of the people around me. SOME people (ahem) just barrel through the world with ironclad certainty that their way is the right way, at all times and in all cases.

The law is actually unambiguous: When approaching a school bus that is on the other side of a median in the road, the legal thing to do is to proceed within the posted speed limit (as pps have pointed out). People behind you are honking because you are not supposed to stop dead in the roadway. You could be ticketed.

but do go slow and watch for kids! I have seen them dash across the median before!

[Anonymous]

Beware - where license points are concerned, passiing a stopped school bus with it's stop sign out is equivalent to a drunk driving ticket. 11 points total and your insurance can drop you. Serious stuff folks.

[Anonymous]

Op here, our neighborhood bus stops at the entrance to the development where some of the parents drop off and pick up. But across the median is the entrance to another development so the kids are often crossing with and without parents. So I always stop just in case one of the kids runs across to the other development. I would rather get beeped at than run over someone crossing the road. So I slow and stop when I drive past the bus just in case.

[Anonymous]

I hear the posters who are saying they drive more slowly and/or stop in this example, but it can be a danger to other cars (which likely have children in them as well) on your side of the road if you are stopping when the rule is that you are not supposed to stop under the circumstances. OP's example is on a neighborhood street where likely no one is going over 20 mph anyway, but this same set of facts is applicable on the stretch of Bradley Blvd in Bethesda near Arlington Road, and it becomes a dangerous situation when cars abruptly stop (after previously cruising at speeds more like 35-40 mph) for school buses on the other side of the median, especially when the cars which stop are in the lane closest to the median. It's like people who stop at busy intersections when it is only a 2 way stop, not a 4 way - if you are not on the side with a stop sign, you can cause an accident by stopping.

[Anonymous]

If you are on the other side of the median then you DON'T stop. I'd be honking at you too b/c there are laws and we are supposed to follow them. If you are making up your own "laws" then you deserve to be honked at.

The reason for the median law is that they will NOT have kids cross a road that is big enough to have a median. So, if the bus is on the other side of the median, there aren't any kids coming across your side of the road. GET MOVING!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are on the other side of the median then you DON'T stop. I'd be honking at you too b/c there are laws and we are supposed to follow them. If you are making up your own "laws" then you deserve to be honked at.

The reason for the median law is that they will NOT have kids cross a road that is big enough to have a median. So, if the bus is on the other side of the median, there aren't any kids coming across your side of the road. GET MOVING!

Yes! If kids live on the other side of the road, the bus will drop them off on that side. They will not be crossing the median!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are on the other side of the median then you DON'T stop. I'd be honking at you too b/c there are laws and we are supposed to follow them. If you are making up your own "laws" then you deserve to be honked at.

The reason for the median law is that they will NOT have kids cross a road that is big enough to have a median. So, if the bus is on the other side of the median, there aren't any kids coming across your side of the road. GET MOVING!

Op here, in our neighborhood the kids cross the median to get to the development across the street. That is why I stop to not hit any that dart across.

[Anonymous]

DH does it and I want to KILL HIM!

You NEVER stop but you definitely slow down. By stopping you can cause an accident!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are on the other side of the median then you DON'T stop. I'd be honking at you too b/c there are laws and we are supposed to follow them. If you are making up your own "laws" then you deserve to be honked at.

The reason for the median law is that they will NOT have kids cross a road that is big enough to have a median. So, if the bus is on the other side of the median, there aren't any kids coming across your side of the road. GET MOVING!

Op here, in our neighborhood the kids cross the median to get to the development across the street. That is why I stop to not hit any that dart across.

You should report this to the school. They're not supposed to cross the median.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear the posters who are saying they drive more slowly and/or stop in this example, but it can be a danger to other cars (which likely have children in them as well) on your side of the road if you are stopping when the rule is that you are not supposed to stop under the circumstances. OP's example is on a neighborhood street where likely no one is going over 20 mph anyway, but this same set of facts is applicable on the stretch of Bradley Blvd in Bethesda near Arlington Road, and it becomes a dangerous situation when cars abruptly stop (after previously cruising at speeds more like 35-40 mph) for school buses on the other side of the median, especially when the cars which stop are in the lane closest to the median. It's like people who stop at busy intersections when it is only a 2 way stop, not a 4 way - if you are not on the side with a stop sign, you can cause an accident by stopping.

No , the driver behind you should not follow closely. I should be able to slam on my, breaks our stop without being rear ended. if you are rear ended the driver behind you was simulating too closely.