Hello CarTalk folks and those well informed of road rules regulation. Today’s topic from me is about another school bus discussion.
Ever since my past experience with running into trouble with a school bus, I’ve been driving with extra care — so much care that driving itself has become somewhat annoying.
Starting from January to this month, I’ve had several neighbors tell me that they received a school bus violation ticket in the mail. They explained that there was no way for them to know a stopped school bus was on the other side of a 6 lane street. Some said they made a right turn coming out of their driveway when a school bus was stopped to the left and was a reasonable distance away from them.
Then last week, when traveling on a back narrow road, as I went up a steep hill and a sharp corner, I stumbled upon a stopped school bus with its arm out. This forced me to apply the brake suddenly as the bus could not be seen while going up the hill and around a sharp corner.
The sighting looks similar to the picture posted above,
My car stopped about 5 feet away from the bus.
I was angry and shocked that a school bus driver would unload students at such a risky spot. But after close observation while standing there for about 3 minutes, I noticed the child’s home driveway was exactly where the school bus had stopped.
Shouldn’t there be a law where school buses aren’t allowed to unload or pick up students around corners with blind spots ?
What is the speed limit on the road you were driving on and does it decrease when going around a sharp bend like the one you show? That’s the way it works on the state road nearest my home. This road also has bicyclists and almost no shoulder along most of it. I keep to the speed limit going around bends to give me time to react to bike riders.
The road has several up hill and down hill on it. Posted signs usually say **limited sight distance **
When I went up the hill, the hill changed on the top of it to going down. That’s when I came upon the school bus.
There are several yellow and black signs on that back road indicating sharp corners and hills and so on. I’m wondering now, after Its_me’s comment I might missed or unintentionally ignored the school bus warning sign due to the many other warning signs on that specific road. Still, I don’t think it’s safe to pick up and unload children at such a risky spot
You were going too fast for the location you were in. And, while studies show that drivers tend to NOT pay a whole lot of attention to road signs, you should start.
I would prefer my kids to have a school bus stop to block traffic at my driveway, to let my kid off the bus, then to wait for a safer spot to drop them off, and then make them walk on that very dangerous road unprotected from speeding vehicles that could kill them…
Had a judge in a court room onetime say, know the road you are speeding on, know when little Johnny is out playing, if and when school bus stops are, if you don’t know, then don’t speed on it, speeding does not mean doing 50 in a 30, it also means 35 in a 30…
You know, it’s getting pretty tiring to read you complaining about other folks not looking out for the way you drive… You know the road, you know the hazards, but you expect everyone else to look out for you coming around the corner and “being surprised” that a school bus (a big, bright Yellow School Bus…) is stopped in a location that it probably stopped at, at least twice a day, every school day of the week…
So, driving with extra care makes you annoyed… So what do you suggest? I love listening to folks complaining about something that annoys them and then they expect someone else to fix their problem. What do you suggest? I imagine that if a school bus is stopped around the corner in the photo you included in you posting, then I also imagine the kids live there… So, come on, tell us what your suggested fix is.
Inquiring Minds Want to Know…
Perhaps you would suggest the kids be let off the bus some distance away from their home, somewhere down the road, in a straight away, where you would not feel inconvenienced to stop so they could safely unload… and then they could walk down country road, the one in your photo has little or no shoulder and defiantly no sidewalks… But remember, if this is your suggestion, you cannot come back and complain that the kids are walking in the road…
So, let’s hear a real solution from you, not some plea for others to solve your dilemma, “Something has to be done…”
True. My post came across more of a rant than an actual discussion seeking a solution.
But the guys responded with great information that helped me see clearer that it’s actually me who need to do more work around the wheels.
As pointed out by It_s_me, I probably missed the school bus warning sign. Had I seen it, I would be preparing for a bus at any given time from that.
Dave said he rather for the school to stop traffic at his driveway than for the bus to let his kids walk home on a road that is risky. I agreed with him. So the blame is on me; not the bus.
I can tell you one thing: ever since joining this forum, my driving awareness has improved tremendously as a result of the folks on here. They have opened my eyes to many things.
New England has many situations like this because of our many narrow and windy roads. @Clueless - Please stay out of New England. You’ll kill somebody.
Yeah I’m done with the excuses. Buses in rural areas often drop kids at their driveways. They also turn their flashing red lights on wellbefore stopping… simply ask to have a warning sign put up but depending on the terrain they may need a number of them. Protect yourself and find out the school school schedule so you’ll know when the cpbusses will be out. No more excuses.
AS someone who drove a school bus in retirement for 17 years, I would much rather hit the back of my bus than run over a child I had dropped off to walk back to their driveway. Dropping off a child in that scenario would be negligent of me
By the way, in NY State it is illegal to deploy the flashing red lights while driving. We deploy flashing yellow lights before stopping and the flashing reds when stopped.
Of course. I’ve been driving in the United States, particularly in NY, for over 2 decades and I never ran into these situations I presented here before.
The back road I spoke about on this post is a road I travel on daily and it was my first time coming across a stopped school bus at that particular spot.
I look out for school buses like a hawk ever since receiving a ticket in recent past. I just wasn’t expecting a school bus would be unloading students around a steep corner, especially on a hill.
I was so frightened that I almost pooped my pants.
Have a friend, 4 lane highway, bus was not allowed to use a turn lane to drop off kids. a few near misses as people would pass the bus in the turn lane.
When people ask me how fast I was going, I have a hard time giving an accurate answer to such a question. Reason is: I don’t stare at the speedometer while driving. I have no way of knowing exactly how fast.
However, I wasn’t speeding. The road condition and design don’t allow for speeding. There are very sharp corners, many of them, lots of hills, etc. if I’m to give a guesstimate answer to how fast I was going, I would say within the posted speed limit.
