No doubt you are right. But the traffic stopped on my side less than 20 seconds after the truck to the left made a left turn and then stopped.
So naturally, you’d assume the truck to the left stopped to yield to traffic on the opposite side to maneuver safely, not that it was stopped for a school bus, hence it was in the exiting left center lane.
Then the truck to the right shortly after stopped, and I’m confused why it did, thinking it must have been a pedestrian, so I crawled up to the front of the truck to the right to check what was in front of it and saw nothing, so I proceeded on.
Trucks are tall. Cars are very low. A truck driver can see clearly across multiple lanes on the opposite side with loads of vehicles on it, whereas a car being between two trucks can’t.
Your 2 cents are always welcomed and appreciated, Bing. You have always shared valuable info.
As I posted back, I followed the advice you guys gave me and hired a lawyer, and now I’m hoping for the best.
My lawyer told me that school bus violations have been a hot topic lately because the buses now have mandatory cameras and motorists are having trouble with observing traffic on the opposite side of a 5 to 6 lane road.
Today, I went for a ride out and to be honest, it does feel awkward driving and looking all the way over on the other side of the street scanning for school buses because I’m so tensed about missing a second if the vehicle in front of me braked up. And as you already know hitting someone from the rear is an auto at fault situation.
In reality, no child will be walking from lane 1 to lane 6 after exiting a bus. Any school bus driver who makes a child walk this far out in the street should seriously be looked at.
I’m not against the law with protecting children. I support their cameras. However, the rule for stopping for school buses should be restricted to residential roads.
But the truck in the left turn lane was stopped before passing the bus
Yet you didn’t think to look left and see why the truck on the left was stopped, could have just as easily been pedestrians coming from that side of the road, or in this case, a stopped school bus.
I thought about this as well when processing the whole thing and why I failed to see the stopped school bus.
Since the truck in the lane I was traveling was ahead of the other truck to the right about half length of a car and then moving over to the center left lane to make an exit, my brain was probably accustomed to such a behavior and became suspicious of the truck to the right when it stopped where the left truck stopped.
In other words, a driver knows a vehicle in the center lane will need to stop to yield to traffic. I don’t think anyone would be thinking a vehicle is stopping for a school bus in the center lane. I certainly wasn’t.
And remember, my main focus at that present time was the truck to the right. It was what caused the confusion as I was thinking a pedestrian probably was in front of it, and since in front of me was clear I didn’t have a need to be cautious of anything in front of the truck to the left ( it was far in the center lane).
I’m just telling you how I calculated the suspicious moment. Maybe you would have calculated it differently and escaped a ticket. Everyone is different, and not everyone on the road is thinking of the same things.
This experience, however, will certainly be added to my driving routine.
PS. Two years ago, a semi truck on the highway in the middle lane changed lane and forced me to the shoulder of the road because he didn’t see me ( even though he was the one who attempted to pass me).
Ever since then, I steer clear of semi trucks. I slow down when they’re passing and I speed up when I’m passing, though I got a ticket once in Virginia for speeding up to pass a semi for my safety.
Huh?
Unless the school buses in your area are painted in a color other than the “universal” School Bus Yellow, those large vehicles should stick out like the proverbial sore thumb–even if they are on the other side of the road. Your peripheral vision should be able to easily detect the presence of a school bus, whether it is on your side of the road or on the opposite side of the road.
Don’t you live in WA state? If so, it is illegal. The OP was not driving on a divided highway (by WA definition below), therefore, it would have been a violation of WA law too.
RCW 46.61.370 Overtaking or meeting school bus, exceptions— Duties of bus driver—Penalty—Safety cameras. (1) The driver of a vehicle upon overtaking or meeting from either direction any school bus which has stopped on the roadway for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children shall stop the vehicle before reaching such school bus when there is in operation on said school bus a visual signal as specified in RCW 46.37.190 and said driver shall not proceed until such school bus resumes motion or the visual signals are no longer activated. (2) The driver of a vehicle upon a highway divided into separate roadways as provided in RCW 46.61.150 need not stop upon meeting a school bus which is proceeding in the opposite direction and is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging school children.
RCW 46.61.150 Driving on divided highways. Whenever any highway has been divided into two or more roadways by leaving an intervening space or by a physical barrier or clearly indicated dividing section or by a median island not less than eighteen inches wide formed either by solid yellow pavement markings or by a yellow crosshatching between two solid yellow lines so installed as to control vehicular traffic, every vehicle shall be driven only upon the right-hand roadway unless directed or permitted to use another roadway by official traffic control devices or police officers.
And there were thick traffic on the opposite side of the road and there were several stop lights.
On my side, the lights were green, and this is why I said I was confused as to why the truck to the right stopped, and so I crawled up to the front to see what was in front of it.
If the school bus was a little further away from the truck to the left, I would clearly see it. But it was right up there with the trucks, and cars on the opposite side were in the left lane, middle lane and left right The school bus would be on the far right.
Even if it was a “mini” school bus, your peripheral vision should still allow you to pick-out something painted in that purposely-visible color, as long as your view isn’t blocked by larger vehicles.
