Asshats who don't stop for school buses

[IDrinkaRum]

I just now wrote a letter at CS about an asshat that drove right past my daughter's school bus as my daughter was being loaded onto the bus.

I didn't have my shoes on this morning, but I did walk her out of the house and I stood on the sidewalk, watching her walk the 10 steps (child sized feet steps) to the school bus and then she climbed the 4 steps into the bus.

Now please, keep in mind that my daughter rides a special needs school bus. It's the short bus. It picks up my daughter in front of our house. The bus is equipped with lights, a stop sign, & a little swinging arm at the bottom of the front bumper that is pulled out also. Everything is flashing, swining, shouting "STOP! CHILD GETTING ON BUS".

Cars stop behind. One car stops in front of said bus. My daughter disappears into the depths of the bus. It takes a few minutes as she has to stop to talk to the bus driver. She has to talk to the kids who sit in front of her. Then she has to be seated, and the assistant has to put her into her safety harness and buckled. This can take a few minutes.

The entire time this is happening, the bus is STILL FLASHING ITS "STOP!" SIGN AND LIGHTS AND EVERYTHING ELSE.

What does the car in front of the bus do? It drives through the flashing lights! The driver decides that because my daughter has boarded the bus he/she/it/asshat can just drive forward. Bus driver said the person even. waved. as. they. went. by. Like that excuses the asshat?

Because we didn't get the plate number, we can't call the cops.

I have to wait until 10 AM EST to call my homeowners association for them to send out another reminder that NO MATTER WHERE THE BUSES STOP, YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE BUS'S LIGHTS ARE ALL OFF AND THE DRIVER STARTS THE BUS FORWARD THAT YOU CAN MOVE AWAY TOO. UNTIL THEN ... YOU HAVE TO WAIT.

[the_std]

I'm slightly confused and request some clarification here. Is the bus parked in front of your house, loading doors facing your sidewalk? And did the car drive around the flat side of the bus, or past the loading doors of the bus?

[Jack]

It reads like the car was in the lane opposing the bus and drove along the flat side from front to back. I think, anyway.

But in any case, yes, agreed, idiots etc.

[Greenday]

I'm slightly confused and request some clarification here. Is the bus parked in front of your house, loading doors facing your sidewalk? And did the car drive around the flat side of the bus, or past the loading doors of the bus?

Hm, I wonder if Canada's laws on this is similar to the UK's.

the_std, in America, it is illegal to pass a bus that is stopped to pick up children, unless there is a median between the two sides of the rode.

[IDrinkaRum]

The doors swing out towards me & the sidewalk. The car that drove past drove past the flat side of the bus. The flat side of the bus has a flashing stop sign on that side. There is no way in heck that person shouldn't have known the bus was stopped and picking up a child. The car had tried to sneak past before but I looked at the driver & the car.

When it's time to pick up child from the bus, I'm bringing a notebook and pen outside with me. Just to make sure I can get descrips and plate numbers of anyone who even looks like they're going to drive past.

And Greenday is correct. In the US, if there isn't a median separating the street, all cars either front or back have to stop and stay stopped until all flashing lights and other whozits are turned off and the bus is moving forward itself before you can go and do what you really want.

[the_std]

And Greenday is correct. In the US, if there isn't a median separating the street, all cars either front or back have to stop and stay stopped until all flashing lights and other whozits are turned off and the bus is moving forward itself before you can go and do what you really want.

All cars in front or back? Does that mean cars in front of the bus, driving in the same direction as the bus, driving away from the bus?

I'm just trying to understand. I don't know our laws, but I don't think they're the same as yours.

[AdminAssistant]

All cars in front or back? Does that mean cars in front of the bus, driving in the same direction as the bus, driving away from the bus?

If the bus is behind you going in the same direction, you don't have to stop. But if you are either behind the bus driving the same direction or approaching the bus driving from the opposite direction, you. must. stop. If you don't and are caught, you can get a slurry of tickets, including child endangerment.

[Greenday]

Right. If you are behind the bus going in the same direction, you have to stop and cannot pass. If you are going in opposite directions, you cannot pass.

Saying that, I passed the handicapped bus this afternoon on my dead end. One of the girls on my street had just been off-loaded and was already in her driveway. The bus driver waved me to go around the bus while she was raising the ramp again so she could leave the street. I felt nervous passing a bus but hey, she told me to just go around her.

[IDrinkaRum]

Right GD. I can see you being allowed to do that especially if the bus driver had waved you on.

My daughter's bus driver never waved anyone on. The asshat of this morning just decided to go forward on their own accord.

I'm just sooo pissed off I can't even see straight when I think about it.

[the_std]

I'm just sooo pissed off I can't even see straight when I think about it.

I guess this is the part that confuses me. She was on the bus, the car went around the bus, not into the bus... I'm not sure I understand the cause for the anger. And yes, I understand it's the law where you are, but breaking the law isn't always cause for "I can't see straight" fury.

I'm not saying you're not allowed to be angry, idar, all I'm saying is that I don't understand it. At all.

[Greenday]

It's kind of a reckless thing to do. You don't know if kids are walking around the bus or anything. What if a kid comes running to make the bus?

[Kaylyn]

Yeah, that driver doesn't know that the kid didn't forget something and have to dash back into the house. He's in such a hurry to get where he needs to be five minutes sooner that he blows past the bus that has all its stop signals on, and the bus driver isn't making eye contact and waving him on ahead like in a previous post. If, in his hurry, the child had been about to cross the street to retrieve an assignment she had left in the house or something, he very well could have hit her.

That's the reason the extreme laws about stopping for school buses exist here in the US, and why the OP is so enraged. No, it DIDN'T happen, but it COULD have. It's not the lawbreaking itself that enrages her, but what could have happened to her child if, for some reason she'd needed to cross the street again.

[IDrinkaRum]

For the past 2 days, I've been coming out of my house armed with a phone, a notebook, and a pen. Ready to write down car descriptions and plate numbers. There's been no one around when the bus has pulled to a stop to either pick up of drop off Child.

However, I thought it was common knowledge that a short bus = special needs/disabled students bus and people should realize it takes a couple of minutes longer than normal to get those types of kids on the bus.

Yes, my daughter is ambulatory, and can move around, but she doesn't know how to stay in one seat while on a bus, that's one of the reasons why she's on a short bus.

*sigh*

But even if she wasn't on a "short bus" and on a "regular bus", I'd still be pissed off that someone drove by the bus while the bus was flashing all those "we're picking up/letting children off lights".

[guywithashovel]

There's a bus that stops on the road my workplace is on. I sometimes get stuck behind it on my way there in the mornings. One morning, while we were stopped waiting for the kids to get on the bus, someone started blaring the horn out of impatience. I've never seen anyone speed past one while the lights are on, though.

I'm wondering, though, if you did see someone doing this, and you wrote down a car description and license plate number, would it get very far with the police? I mean, if they denied doing it, it would pretty much be your word against theirs, wouldn't it?

[MaggieTheCat]

I think in Rum's case, she'd probably have the bus driver's word to back her's up, since the driver saw the person go past while the stop sign lights were still on.