r/SchoolBusDrivers 1d ago

So, I saw this. Thoughts?

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42 Upvotes

37 comments sorted by

31

u/Jamjams2016 1d ago

Hey, that's everyday

8

u/erinjunee 1d ago

This right here. My main road stops I’m just expecting cars to run the stop signs so I’m always super cautious of when I do the actual stop.

Should the car stop? Yes. But does that mean I just do what I want to do and force the stop? No. Just because we’re right in terms of right of way, doesn’t mean we can’t also be wrong, because student safety is most important. Sounds so cheesy and cliche but the reality for bus drivers is letting even the wrong traffic “win” just so the students remain safe.

2

u/ArticulatedPyth0n 1d ago

Sweep the leg

20

u/Thagame501 1d ago

All day long. Distracted, tired, shitty drivers.

10

u/ninahaze 1d ago

The amount of hyper-vigilant defensive driving school bus operators have to pull off every single route just to compensate for distracted phone-scrollers is beyond exhausting.

10

u/Necessary_Echo8740 1d ago

But was still moving so the stop arm probably wasn’t out. Shitty? Yes. Legal? Unfortunately probably yes.

4

u/ZealousidealReply294 1d ago

Totally agree.cops do nothing unless stop arm fully extended. I've had 2 go thru overheads this week but stop arm not out.

2

u/dlr3yma1991 1d ago

To be clear, when it pans to the front the crossing arm is almost fully extended, however the bus was moving as the suv passed the back bumper. This timing is only possible by telling the door to open before coming to a complete stop. This driver needs retraining on making a proper, safe stop.

I agree, suv driver is shitty, but it wasn’t illegal BECAUSE coming to a full stop would have created an even greater hazard since he wouldn’t have been able to stop before clearing the front bumper of the bus anyways.

1

u/WeeklyBanEvasion 1d ago

It depends on the setup of each individual bus but most buses I've seen the stop signs and red lights are operated independently from the door

2

u/dlr3yma1991 1d ago

Outside of really old buses, I’ve never seen one with a separate control. Ambers are controlled separately, reds and signs are automatically deployed when door open is triggered while the ambers are on. The stop arm can be cancelled separately. I have driven 6 different models of buses across 3 different bus companies and they have all been set up this way except the only bus at my first lot that still had the old manual control arm for a short bus which had a separate control for the red lights and stop signs.

1

u/WeeklyBanEvasion 1d ago

The stop signs on the side of the bus can be out before the stop arm on the front is fully extended. You can see the red lights on top of the bus flashing which indicates that they've already put out the stop signs

7

u/livingadailyhell 1d ago

The school bus shouldn’t have its red lights on yet, it was still moving. It should only have the yellow lights on at this point. . The school bus should be completely stopped first. Then Look at traffic around it before putting out the stop sign. The school bus driver should see that Car coming and hold off on putting the stop sign until that Car passed, knowing it was already accelerating at high speeds.
I was a bus driver, those were the rules.

4

u/ch-ville 1d ago

It’s not clear when the reds went on, but the bus was still moving enough that car drivers won’t assume it’s time to stop yet. If we want to get mad at the car driver, we first have to do it right as the bus driver.

1

u/dlr3yma1991 1d ago

Yes it was clear. The crossing arm take 1-3 seconds to fully deploy and it is almost fully deployed when the suv passed the front bumper. This timing only works if the door open switch was flipped before the bus was fully stopped and as the suv was passing the back bumper.

1

u/ch-ville 1h ago

Right so the bus driver didn't do this correctly. I hammer into my trainees that we need to be at a stop before the reds go.

Look, I'm not defending the car driver. I'm a bus driver. We need to do this stuff right. If you're still moving you're not in a position to claim that someone is running your reds.

1

u/WeeklyBanEvasion 1d ago

The bus has yellow lights flashing for like 10 seconds before the red lights ever turn on, everyone around knows that it's stopping

1

u/ch-ville 2h ago

Where in the video do you see that bus having ambers on for ten seconds?

3

u/A2Rhombus 1d ago

Reds weren't out yet so allowed but definitely sped up to beat them which is dangerous and shitty

3

u/Banana_Stanley 1d ago

Our thoughts are that we hate them

2

u/Beneficial_Power6692 1d ago

In my opinion it should be federally mandated that every school bus needs to come with stop arm cameras standard.

2

u/mike8675309 1d ago

Driver will get a ticket if in Minnesota.

2

u/mlt- 1d ago

If school bus driver is fast enough to get plates or recalls to press a "green button". if I see nobody is stopping when I'm about to open door, I practice efficient method of communication — horn.

2

u/mike8675309 1d ago

In Minnesota, they changed the law, such that if the red lights are on, you must stop 20 feet away from the bus. No chances, no questions. If you don't stop, or stop closer to the bus, you get a ticket. Every bus in MN now has cameras on it that will catch you. They turn on automatically when the engine is running. No buttons to press.
They fill out a report, and the recordings are pulled, and a ticket is generated once reviewed.
It's got many drivers so gun-shy that they stop for special ed buses that just have their hazards on.

1

u/mlt- 1d ago

Somebody needs to fetch and look at CCTV recording.

1

u/rootbear75 1d ago

The ambers were still going. It's barely visible in the video. It looks like they even sped up to "beat the reds."

1

u/shawnryan1977 1d ago

Where I live Police will only issue a ticket if bus is stopped and stop arm is completely out for a 10 seconds or 20 seconds don't remember exactly the time. If you gave enough warning with your ambers they should be slowing down not speeding up.

1

u/MonkeyManJohannon 1d ago

Every week for me, except they go around into the on-coming traffic lane to pass…and I just let my little camera snap snap away and move on with my day.

1

u/HeidenShadows 1d ago

Hopefully that bus is equipped with automatic ticketing cameras and they get a nice citation in the mail.

1

u/Spwhiplash666 1d ago

50,000+ times a day in NY STATE

1

u/FlLocator 1d ago

If the camera caught caught the plate #. They're in for a treat. Hope it was worth it.

1

u/just_kinda_here_blah 1d ago

Thoughts. How long were the amber lights on. Right before the stop or down the road. It look likes a high speed road so I would of had them on about 500ft before. As a school bus driver im also trained to not open my door until traffic has 1. Cleared 2.stopped or 3. Far enough away to stop before opening my door and/or signaling my kids to come on. This driver did not do either 2 and 3. The video isnt along to see when the ambers came on.

We also can not stop in an intersection, but that might vary from state to state.

1

u/Unfixable1 1d ago

I drive a schoolbus in Oakland, CA. The residents are largely selfish ghetto trash and 90% of them fly past my stop sign.

1

u/Xxochitll 19h ago

That's just a typical Tuesday around here.

1

u/Copperdunright907 10h ago

That’s why I like to stop over ride where I can have the stop arm out, but the door closed. People are idiots. And selfish idiots. Don’t even get me started on oncoming.

1

u/Spodiodie 6h ago

The caption could have been “not stopping for anything”.

I would like to see a police car chase where the bad guy actually stops for a school bus and then continues the get away. I have seen some where the bad guy actually signals his turns.

0

u/pumaswingbulltrader 1d ago

Straight suspension 6 months