Got a $250 school bus ticket in MoCo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you were there and witnessed the situation, it’s very easy to play backseat driver saying that you could have seen the bus in OP’s situation. Everyone is vilifying OP like the kids are out of the bus and crossing the street before the stop sign gate has opened. OP acknowledged the fault already and explaining the situation.

I received a ticket a few years ago and I was parallel with the bus when the flashing stop gate opened up. But since it had front and rear cameras, I was also ticketed. I tried to contest it and the officer explained that I have to stop when the lights are flashing, not when the sign swings out. It was the difference of .5 sec on the video that i had to see the lights and stop before I passed the bus.

Residential neighborhoods have speed limits of 25 or 30 mph. If you are driving within the speed limit, the amount of time when the yellow lights stop flashing to when they turn red and the arm swings out is plenty of time to stop. If you were caught on the camera passing the bus, that means that either you were speeding at least 10 mph over the speed limit or your ignored the yellow flashing lights thinking you could "beat" the red flashing lights or just ignored them completely.

You need to drive slower and pay more attention when you are driving in residential areas because there is plenty of time from when the yellow lights start to flash and when the bus stops and the arm comes out.

You and OP both deserved the tickets. Apparently, $250 is not enough of a disincentive for people to self-police themselves. Perhaps they need to raise the amount again.

School buses don't just drive and stop on streets in "residential neighborhoods." They also drive and stop on higher-speed, higher-traffic roads that have multi-family housing (apartments and condos), as well as roads that have no housing at all. OP and everybody need to drive more slowly and pay more attention on ALL roads. It's not like school buses are hard to see.

[Anonymous]

Be glad it’s just a monetary fine. When I started driving in NJ 24 years ago you would get 5 points and a fat fine if you were caught passing a stopped school bus.

[Anonymous]

So I was driving the other day and there was a school pulled up in front of a church with its hazards on but no stop sign out and I wasn’t actually sure what to do in that situation but I figured if it didn’t have a stop sign it was ok not to stop?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I was driving the other day and there was a school pulled up in front of a church with its hazards on but no stop sign out and I wasn’t actually sure what to do in that situation but I figured if it didn’t have a stop sign it was ok not to stop?

Were the red blinky lights on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I was driving the other day and there was a school pulled up in front of a church with its hazards on but no stop sign out and I wasn’t actually sure what to do in that situation but I figured if it didn’t have a stop sign it was ok not to stop?

Were the red blinky lights on?

It had ordinary orange lights blinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I was driving the other day and there was a school pulled up in front of a church with its hazards on but no stop sign out and I wasn’t actually sure what to do in that situation but I figured if it didn’t have a stop sign it was ok not to stop?

Were the red blinky lights on?

It had ordinary orange lights blinking.

If you get a ticket and the sign isn't out on the pictures, I would dispute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I was driving the other day and there was a school pulled up in front of a church with its hazards on but no stop sign out and I wasn’t actually sure what to do in that situation but I figured if it didn’t have a stop sign it was ok not to stop?

Were the red blinky lights on?

It had ordinary orange lights blinking.

If you get a ticket and the sign isn't out on the pictures, I would dispute.

I feel like licensed drivers should know what the law says, but apparently not.

Section 21-706 - Overtaking and passing school vehicle

(a) If a school vehicle has stopped on a roadway and is operating the alternately flashing red lights specified in § 22-228 of this article, the driver of any other vehicle meeting or overtaking the school vehicle shall stop at least 20 feet from the rear of the school vehicle, if approaching the school vehicle from its rear, or at least 20 feet from the front of the school vehicle, if approaching the school vehicle from its front.
(b) If a school vehicle has stopped on a roadway and is operating the alternately flashing red lights specified in § 22-228 of this article, the driver of any other vehicle meeting or overtaking the school vehicle may not proceed until the school vehicle resumes motion or the alternately flashing red lights are deactivated.
(c) This section does not apply to the driver of a vehicle on a divided highway, if the school vehicle is on a different roadway.
(d) A person convicted of a violation of this section is subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

Md. Code, TR § 21-706

[Anonymous]

My wife got one for a divided highway. Of course where the bus stop the county didn't bother to pour the concrete in the median exactly, but the median is marked out. What is she supposed to do stop and get rear ended? It is ridiculous to stop on 6 lane highways.

And yes we don't want to run over kids, but it is ridiculous. I've seen all types of crazy behavior in MoCo like teenagers doing push ups in the middle of the road on Georgia Ave. None of that bad behavior punished, but lets give all the people going and from work tickets for school buses in July.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My wife got one for a divided highway. Of course where the bus stop the county didn't bother to pour the concrete in the median exactly, but the median is marked out. What is she supposed to do stop and get rear ended? It is ridiculous to stop on 6 lane highways.

And yes we don't want to run over kids, but it is ridiculous. I've seen all types of crazy behavior in MoCo like teenagers doing push ups in the middle of the road on Georgia Ave. None of that bad behavior punished, but lets give all the people going and from work tickets for school buses in July.

So, actually, it wasn't a divided highway.

No, it's not ridiculous. You shouldn't do pushups in the middle of the road (which there is actually no law against). Also, you shouldn't complain when you get a ticket for not stopping for a stopped school bus. You don't get to break traffic laws just because you were driving to or from work.