I commute to work right when school starts, so I arrange my route to avoid them. Sometimes, though, I can’t avoid it. And though I’d love to get around them when they have their red lights flashing, there’s this little thing called the law that says I can’t. (I did once, though — see the extended section for details.)
But that doesn’t stop some people.
If ever there was a clear call for a police crackdown, this is it — before some kid gets run down.
(updated to clarify red lights)
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(I did once, though — see the extended section for details.)
Umm, if the bus was going 60, then it wasn’t at a stop, and you could pass legally. What exactly are you saying?
Yes, there is absolutely nothing wrong with passing a moving bus. Even if it was going 25 mph, as long as the pass is legal and the bus doesn’t have any lights flashing.
Here in Mass, you only have to stop when the red stop sign is out — not necessarily when the red lights are flashing. The law is “stop when school bus STOPS,” not when red lights are flashing.
I dont’ think the red lights start flashing on our buses until they start to slow down to make the stop.
But this bothers me a lot. I don’t know how many times cars have wizzed around my sons school bus, when I was waiting for him to get off (thankfully he doesn’t actually have to cross the traffic and he is the only one at that stop). I have never seen anyone get pulled over for this, guess the cops aren’t around when they should be.
When I lived in Virginia years ago, I remember a group of kids getting hit by a car that didn’t stop, one child was killed and a couple more were seriously injured.
Buses should be equipped with high-quality cameras to catch these bastards who think they are above the law. But, of course, that would require money, which would have to be taken away from the oh-so-more-important things like teaching kids about Earth Day and how to love Mother Earth, bureaucrats’ salaries and state-of-the-art sports equipment and facilities.