Not Stopping for School Bus in Lane Opposite Double Yellow Line

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of people who don't know this law in DC too.

School bus was stopped, flashing lights, 2 lane road, car stopped across the street at stop sign not going as per the law and several of the drivers behind them all leaning on their horns honking for the person who is supposed to be stopped to move.

If I was the person at that stop sign getting honked at, I would point forward to the school bus with one finger and point backwards to the honkers with another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a PSA that if you encounter a stopped school bus with flashing red lights in Maryland, you must stop within 20 feet of the bus, even if you are on the opposite side of double yellow lines, where pedestrians cannot cross. I got a $250 ticket in the mail, as I didn't know what the rule was as I was approaching a busy four lane intersection and wasn't sure whether/when/where to stop.

Wait, what? There is no law saying that pedestrians are not allowed to cross a double yellow line.

When in doubt, STOP FOR THE SCHOOL BUS THAT HAS ITS RED LIGHTS ON.

I agree there isn't a law saying pedestrians are not allowed to cross a double yellow line, but in this spot, the crosswalk is about 25 feet away. You would be crossing four lanes of traffic, so you should cross at the crosswalk, not at the double yellow line area.

Yeah but they'll get you anyway. Same situation here. $500 ticket last year. I'd never gotten a ticket for anything before in my life but that made up for my years of cautious driving!

OP here. $500? Oh that's painful. I read the ordinance to say that the max is supposed to be $250. Were you actually pulled over as moving violation, or was that what you got in the mail?

Got it in the mail. Camera on the bus. It was a 6-lane road and I was at least 4 lanes over from the bus so it really did not occur to me I'd have to stop.

It was very painful. I mean I have never gotten so much as a parking ticket before, never been pulled over, etc!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless it's a divided road (concrete median), then it's OK to proceed if bus is stopped in other direction.

Not “unless” but “If” or “Where”. Words matter.

Maybe you meant “It’s NOT ok to proceed, unless it’s a divided road.” And even that sentence is poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised that this is a surprise to anyone. We were taught to always stop when a school bus is stopped when I was in driver ed. and it was in the state driver manual also.

The bus is big and bright yellow and has flashing red lights, so it is not like it is that hard to see. I suppose if the bus was hidden in some way, you could try to fight the ticket, OP.

OP here. I'm not fighting the ticket. I just paid it, actually. I just want to make sure others are aware of the rule. FWIW, the bus was pulled over at the curb, with another lane to its left open. Other cars were moving. I guess everyone got a ticket. Where I live in Montgomery County, we often see school buses pulled up to the curb, parked, or waiting, without their lights flashing. So first it registers, oh here's a bus. Next you need to check, are its lights flashing.

No, first you slow down and check for kids. Then you check for lights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised that this is a surprise to anyone. We were taught to always stop when a school bus is stopped when I was in driver ed. and it was in the state driver manual also.

The bus is big and bright yellow and has flashing red lights, so it is not like it is that hard to see. I suppose if the bus was hidden in some way, you could try to fight the ticket, OP.

OP here. I'm not fighting the ticket. I just paid it, actually. I just want to make sure others are aware of the rule. FWIW, the bus was pulled over at the curb, with another lane to its left open. Other cars were moving. I guess everyone got a ticket. Where I live in Montgomery County, we often see school buses pulled up to the curb, parked, or waiting, without their lights flashing. So first it registers, oh here's a bus. Next you need to check, are its lights flashing.

Yes, those flashing lights are tricky!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Got it in the mail. Camera on the bus. It was a 6-lane road and I was at least 4 lanes over from the bus so it really did not occur to me I'd have to stop.

It was very painful. I mean I have never gotten so much as a parking ticket before, never been pulled over, etc!

Flashing red lights generally mean "stop", don't they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why people should have to take some kind of driving test in order to renew their license every 10 years or so. It is ridiculous that you folks don't know the rules for stopping for a bus.

I also can't believe the OP's excuse that the traffic was moving too fast- if there's a school bus near me *especially* around the times when school is letting out, I'm always paying attention to it to see if it's stopping. There's no excuse for not stopping for a bus, and I'm glad the tickets are so high.

I took a driving test a couple years ago when moving to Maryland. No where else I have lived would ever allow a school bus to let kids off on a 5 lane semi divided road. They always pulled into a neighborhood or parking lot.

Like me, there are lots of people moving here from all.over the country and the world. We study but it's a lot of learn and some of the laws here would not be practiced elsewhere because they would pull into neighborhoods for student safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a PSA that if you encounter a stopped school bus with flashing red lights in Maryland, you must stop within 20 feet of the bus, even if you are on the opposite side of double yellow lines, where pedestrians cannot cross. I got a $250 ticket in the mail, as I didn't know what the rule was as I was approaching a busy four lane intersection and wasn't sure whether/when/where to stop.

Wait, what? There is no law saying that pedestrians are not allowed to cross a double yellow line.

When in doubt, STOP FOR THE SCHOOL BUS THAT HAS ITS RED LIGHTS ON.

I agree there isn't a law saying pedestrians are not allowed to cross a double yellow line, but in this spot, the crosswalk is about 25 feet away. You would be crossing four lanes of traffic, so you should cross at the crosswalk, not at the double yellow line area.

Yeah but the point of the law and the ticket you got is that kids are dumb and will run across four lanes to catch their bus.

[Anonymous]

Has there been a public safety campaign with an emphasis on bus safety? I think most people who run these lights probably don’t know versus entitled assholes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why people should have to take some kind of driving test in order to renew their license every 10 years or so. It is ridiculous that you folks don't know the rules for stopping for a bus.

I also can't believe the OP's excuse that the traffic was moving too fast- if there's a school bus near me *especially* around the times when school is letting out, I'm always paying attention to it to see if it's stopping. There's no excuse for not stopping for a bus, and I'm glad the tickets are so high.

I took a driving test a couple years ago when moving to Maryland. No where else I have lived would ever allow a school bus to let kids off on a 5 lane semi divided road. They always pulled into a neighborhood or parking lot.

Like me, there are lots of people moving here from all.over the country and the world. We study but it's a lot of learn and some of the laws here would not be practiced elsewhere because they would pull into neighborhoods for student safety.

This is not an issue about the location of school bus stops. It's an issue about drivers stopping for school buses with their red lights on and their stop signs out. When you're drivnig, and you see a school bus with its red lights on and its stop sign out, do what you do with any other red light and/or stop sign: stop.

[Anonymous]

Someone blew past my daughter's school's bus with red lights and stop sigh out just this morning. 2 lane residential road, luckily no one crosses the street at this particular stop. The bus driver was pissed though.

If you can't see a big yellow bus with flashing lights in time to stop then you should not be driving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there cameras on maryland buses?

OP here. Yes, they sure do. I just logged onto the site to pay my ticket, and they show you the video taken from four different angles. It's pretty impressive.

Not all of them though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there cameras on maryland buses?

OP here. Yes, they sure do. I just logged onto the site to pay my ticket, and they show you the video taken from four different angles. It's pretty impressive.

Not all of them though.

If it hasn’t happened already, all 1200 Montgomery County school buses will have cameras soon. The goal for this was this month.
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/bussafety.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a PSA that if you encounter a stopped school bus with flashing red lights in Maryland, you must stop within 20 feet of the bus, even if you are on the opposite side of double yellow lines, where pedestrians cannot cross. I got a $250 ticket in the mail, as I didn't know what the rule was as I was approaching a busy four lane intersection and wasn't sure whether/when/where to stop.

Wait, what? There is no law saying that pedestrians are not allowed to cross a double yellow line.

When in doubt, STOP FOR THE SCHOOL BUS THAT HAS ITS RED LIGHTS ON.

I agree there isn't a law saying pedestrians are not allowed to cross a double yellow line, but in this spot, the crosswalk is about 25 feet away. You would be crossing four lanes of traffic, so you should cross at the crosswalk, not at the double yellow line area.

Yeah but they'll get you anyway. Same situation here. $500 ticket last year. I'd never gotten a ticket for anything before in my life but that made up for my years of cautious driving!

OP here. $500? Oh that's painful. I read the ordinance to say that the max is supposed to be $250. Were you actually pulled over as moving violation, or was that what you got in the mail?

Got it in the mail. Camera on the bus. It was a 6-lane road and I was at least 4 lanes over from the bus so it really did not occur to me I'd have to stop.

It was very painful. I mean I have never gotten so much as a parking ticket before, never been pulled over, etc!

I'm 50. I've lived in a number of states and 2 countries as an adult. This has been the law since I was 16 in every place I live. Are you too senile to drive? Illiterate? You need to surrender your license if you don't know basic things. Passing a school bus is like drunk driving. There's no excuse.

Next post: Stop when there's a red light.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone blew past my daughter's school's bus with red lights and stop sigh out just this morning. 2 lane residential road, luckily no one crosses the street at this particular stop. The bus driver was pissed though.

If you can't see a big yellow bus with flashing lights in time to stop then you should not be driving.

I witnessed this same thing a few weeks ago while stopped for a bus- a woman just cruised right on past the bus with its lights on. The difference was there was a cop right there and pulled the woman over immediately. It was very satisfying to watch.