Stop for the school bus (please)

[albertson]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=997336047005729

Vancouver BC school bus. Drivers ignore the stop signals. Really bad behavior.
This driver needs a real dash cam (not phone). Maybe the school district could supply/install ones.
Our city busses have 6 video camera per bus, to document evidence of criminals. Why not at least 1-2 for a school bus?

 

[Gibson99]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=997336047005729

Vancouver BC school bus. Drivers ignore the stop signals. Really bad behavior.
This driver needs a real dash cam (not phone). Maybe the school district could supply/install ones.
Our city busses have 6 video camera per bus, to document evidence of criminals. Why not at least 1-2 for a school bus?

How bout a camera/license plate reader on the driver side that shows the stop sign being out and then automatically fines every vehicle that disregards them? In Houston, it's about a $1400 ticket!

I'd be in favor of school bus cameras much more than red light cameras!

 

[flank]

Maybe drop the kids off near cross walks? A few of those kids were crossing in the middle of the street.

 

[Gibson99]

Maybe drop the kids off near cross walks? A few of those kids were crossing in the middle of the street.

Just because there's no painted lines doesn't mean it's not an intersection. Plus some of those look like there may not be a cross walk for a mile or two. If people would just follow the law (which is not a new law by any stretch of the imagination) it wouldn't be a problem.

 

[dash riposki]

In some areas. the kids aren't grouped into area 'school bus stops'. The bus will stop at almost every damn house.
If you want your patience tested, get behind a bus on a two lane road, in an suburban or semi-rural area, that stops at a house, pulls up 150 feet, stops again, and repeats 15-20 times. You can see the kids standing near the mailboxes for a half mile ahead....

By the time the bus driver turns off the red flashing lights and gets the bus rolling, they turn them on again and stop.

Since this usually happens during morning commute times, eventually cars start trying to shoot through in the 3-4 second time period the red lights aren't flashing.

Talk about chaos.

Add a slow truck to the mix and the cars go nuts.


A lot of the US school buses have cameras of some sort.

I'm surprised they let her drive using that bluetooth thing in her ear. Yes, it's probably legal, but.......

 

[kamkar]

I was not avare you had to stop as oncomming traffic, so this just made my dream US grand tour a little safer.

But i do think its stupid in some way, why not teach the kids not to cross the road before the bus have left ?
Sure i can allso see that the bus beeing there as a kind of mobile stop sign is a good idea, but at the same its allso blocking the view a lot and the kids dont look before they cross.

getting a licence here ( at least in the good old days ) you was taught to look under the bus for feet when you pass a stopped bus, cuz offcourse Danish kids are not smarter than any other kids, so some will jump out of the car run around to the front and into traffic.
I still think busses have sign at the exit ( in the front ) that say dont cross the road in front of the stopped bus, and look for cyclist as you exit.

 

[Gibson99]

why not teach the kids not to cross the road before the bus have left ?

because ALL traffic is supposed to stop for the school bus, so in theory, it should be safe for the kids to cross. so in a place where there is no normal crosswalk, the bus stops traffic to allow the kids to cross safely.

I still think busses have sign at the exit ( in the front ) that say dont cross the road in front of the stopped bus, and look for cyclist as you exit.

city buses have those signs here as well. but cars don't have to stop for a regular city bus like they do for a school bus, because normally it's only adults (or children with their parents) getting on/off city buses, and most adults know better than to just run out into the road.

 

[kamkar]

Well over here we are not as protective of our kids, so mom will leave her kid in the pram outside the shop as she go shopping, kids will ride the bus alone, and they will bicycle around the town from a pretty young age.

Myself i was unleashed into traffic on my bicycle at the tender age of 6 or 7 years, but us having all those bicycle paths is a + in that regard, but still the cars are right there next to you, and you still have to cross ther path once in a while.

In school you will allso be taught how to behave in traffic as a pedestrian or riding a bicycle.

https://translate.google.dk/translate?sl=da&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=da&ie=UTF-8&u=http://sites.sikkertrafik.dk/Skole/F%C3%A6rdselskontaktl%C3%A6rer/Undervisning-i-hele-skoleforl%C3%B8bet.aspx&edit-text=&act=url

 

[Error7]

Sorry but it seems like a crazy law that makes all drivers stop every time a school bus stops. Better to teach the kids how to cross the road safely.

 

[Rajagra]

If traffic is supposed to stop from both directions, then why doesn't the bus stop in the middle of the road to enforce it? Or even stop diagonally, blocking the road?

It's a fantasy to believe putting signs and lights on a school bus makes it safe for kids to cross the road without looking (as shown in this video.)
I wonder if there are any stats to prove this law saves lives. I'm sure for every life that's saved, one or more others are lost because children are being taught it's OK to cross the road recklessly - and right next to vehicles that block line of sight, one of the most dangerous things a pedestrian can do.

Not condoning the law-breaking. But I wonder if many drivers there just don't understand that law.

 

[Gibson99]

one thing i remember from when i rode a school bus 20-some years ago... there was a bar or wire that would extend from the front bumper during load/unload stops so that kids had to walk WAY around in front, so there was no chance of a driver NOT seeing the kid over the hood/bonnet of the bus. they don't seem to use those anymore. but then when i looked up the school bus stop laws on wikipedia, the picture at the top shows one of those bars in use. when the doors close, the bar folds flat against the bumper.

i always looked for cars when going around the bus, but not every kid does. just like not every kid looks any OTHER time they walk into the road. both my kids have gotten sore shoulders more than once when me or my wife yanked them back out of the road by their arm because they didn't look first. hopefully they'll learn from the pain.

i fail to see what's so confusing about it. there's nothing more common on the road than a STOP sign, and all school buses have at least one that comes out when they stop to load/unload. most people here also went to school here as kids so they certainly got to see buses in operation at least a few times. the laws around this haven't changed in a long time, so it's not like "surprise, here's this new law!"

and apparently some school districts HAVE teamed up with the police and put license plate readers on the buses, like i suggested above: http://patch.com/georgia/smyrna/video-watch-out-for-cobb-school-bus-cameras - and as i said above - this would be a WAY better investment of funds than red light cameras, and you probably wouldn't have any opposition to it either - anyone who dared oppose it would be burned at the stake or something. "Think of the CHIRRENS!"

times have changed though... when i was a kid, i lived in a smaller town, and like kamkar, i was allowed to ride my bike all over the place by myself at the age of 7. that included crossing US highway 90. granted, the speed limit through that part of hwy90 is only 30, and there's a traffic light there, but still.

now i wouldn't dare think of letting my daughter go out by herself once she turns 7 in a couple months...

 

[kamkar]

I am just glad i got a little wiser, now i just need the chance to use my knowlege.
This guy is not comming to the states to mess things up or use " i did not know" as a excuse, want it to be a good experience for all parties involved.
I trust the guy behind me can help with a swift toot of the horn if turn right on red is in play. or there is some signs in regard to this, im not that blind yet.

 

[Auld Reekie]

School bus laws are different here in the UK, our drivers or at least 99% of them are trained to pull the bus into the kerbside, so there is no road space for vehicles to run alongside when a passenger is alighting. Is there a reason they just stop in the middle of the road to allow the passenger to alight. Seems to me it is laziness on the drivers part.

 

[Rajagra]

Is there a reason they just stop in the middle of the road to allow the passenger to alight. Seems to me it is laziness on the drivers part.

Do you mean the bit just after the 1:00 mark? That is pretty odd.

Another thought I just had: Stop signs mean you have to stop before the stop line painted on the road. Where is the stop line when the sign is on a bus???

 

[Gibson99]

Do you mean the bit just after the 1:00 mark? That is pretty odd.

Another thought I just had: Stop signs mean you have to stop before the stop line painted on the road. Where is the stop line when the sign is on a bus???

most buses DO pull up against the curb for loading/unloading. obviously not all roads have curbs. that was the case (no curbs) where that white SUV passed on the right and nearly hit those kids in washington state. the suv passed on the right shoulder, where the kids had been waiting in the grass further away from the road.

as for no stop line - often the stop line is worn away, or covered with snow/dirt/mud so the rule in that case is to act like the stop sign itself is the stop line - stop with your front bumper even with the stop sign. i imagine the same thing applies over there as well. however, school buses are different. when you're going the same direction as the bus, you aren't allowed to pass it (when its red lights are flashing), even if there's another lane going the same direction. if you're going the opposite direction, you stop before you get to the bus to allow room for kids to cross the street safely. if you're coming from a cross-street, chances are good you'll also have a stop sign. so you just pull up to your normal stopping point, then sit there and wait for the bus to finish - you're not allowed to enter the intersection when the bus has its red lights flashing.

yes, it might sound a little onerous and annoying, but it's really not that big a deal. everywhere i've lived, they always try to make the school bus stops be AWAY from major roads. you'll never see a bus stop on the freeway or access road. they're pretty much only in neighborhoods, where you shouldn't be driving fast ANYWAY. and it's not like school buses run every 5-10 minutes like a city bus. they only run their route twice a day.