A small vent

[MareQ]

I live in a private lake community. We do not allow the school bus to come into our community. We have narrow roads with 15 mile speed limits - we want the kids to be able to walk and play in the streets etc - no traffic etc.

Because we try to keep the traffic out - our entire community only has 3 bus stops - near the "main" road. Each bus stop has 20-25 children (Mine has 25 kids) Our roads are narrow and some of us drive there (over 1/2 a mile for me) so we all park along one side of the narrow road leading to our bus stop and wait for the bus.

This afternoon - the bus lets the kids off and pulls away as soon as they cross the street. As soon as the bus left today the car behind it turned onto this road and BEEPED at the kids?!?!? Some of the kids moved and climbed onto the small snowbanks on either side of the road to try and let the car through - but most just kept walking to their cars. One mom DARED to open her door to let her child in - she got a beep as he tried to drive past her. I was the last car in the row so by the time the guy made it up to me he seemed to be about to have a stroke. A mom and 2 kids were walking as far along the side of the road as they could - without walking IN the snow - and apparently weren't walking fast enough - so he LEANED ON his horn and started raising his hands in disgust, opened the window and yelled " Can you move I'm trying to drive here"

Now maybe it's me - but if you're in a hurry and you see 25 kids getting off of a bus going down a road you were planning on using would you find another road into the development (there's a road 1/4 of a mile down that is NOT a bus stop that he could have used) or would you just beep and get mad that nobody was getting out of your way fast enough???

By the way these are elementary school children - Kindergarten to 6th grade.

 

[Hedy]

What the.... That's bizarre. People stink.

 

[bevtoy]

I thought that in most situations pedestrians....especially school children...have the right of way. Too bad someone didn't get the guys plate and car make/model and report him. I suspect he could have been ticketed.

 

[NAB]

Are you saying that this road is so narrow it isn't two lanes? So if you park on one side you can't drive down it. I hate to say it but the driver does have the right of way. He does have to watch out for people you also have to watch out for cars if you are not on a side walk. Maybe he didn't know about the other road you speak of. What was he suppose to do stop and wait for 25 kids to get in cars....

I see this all the time cars waiting for school bus on our street too. Sometimes going down both sides so only one car can make it though. We have seen close calls. But it is the ones waiting that always gets mad at the driver who is just trying to get though.

And being school kids they do not have the right of way. Unless there is a school guard there getting them across the street. Why would he get a ticket of driving on the road? He didn't pass the school bus with flashing lights.He just turned down a road.

I am glad everyone got in there cars safe that is the most important of course.

 

[CT_Dad]

In Connecticut the pedestrian always has the right of way. I think the same is true in a couple nearby states. So, yes, I think the driver should have waited for the kids to get in the cars or taken another road.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

In Connecticut the pedestrian always has the right of way. I think the same is true in a couple nearby states. So, yes, I think the driver should have waited for the kids to get in the cars or taken another road.

In NJ the pedestrian always has the right of way also. There are a lot of towns, mine included, that do not have sidewalks, so the only place to walk is on the side of the road.

To the OP - Go ahead and vent, they guy was way out of line. God forbid he hit a kid/adult because he was in a hurry.

 

[MareQ]

Are you saying that this road is so narrow it isn't two lanes? So if you park on one side you can't drive down it. I hate to say it but the driver does have the right of way. He does have to watch out for people you also have to watch out for cars if you are not on a side walk. Maybe he didn't know about the other road you speak of. What was he suppose to do stop and wait for 25 kids to get in cars....

I see this all the time cars waiting for school bus on our street too. Sometimes going down both sides so only one car can make it though. We have seen close calls. But it is the ones waiting that always gets mad at the driver who is just trying to get though.

And being school kids they do not have the right of way. Unless there is a school guard there getting them across the street. Why would he get a ticket of driving on the road? He didn't pass the school bus with flashing lights.He just turned down a road.

I am glad everyone got in there cars safe that is the most important of course.

It's so narrow two cars can barely pass because of the snow. It wasn't the cars in the way - it was the kids walking.

Pedestrians have the right of way in NJ.

 

[MareQ]

In NJ the pedestrian always has the right of way also. There are a lot of towns, mine included, that do not have sidewalks, so the only place to walk is on the side of the road.

To the OP - Go ahead and vent, they guy was way out of line. God forbid he hit a kid/adult because he was in a hurry.

Yes NO SIDEWALKS. The kids have to walk on the road to get to our cars - or walk on the snowbanks on either side of the road.

Just cannot get over the fact that he was beeping at kids?!?!?! They weren't loitering in the road - they were walking to their parents.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

Yes NO SIDEWALKS. The kids have to walk on the road to get to our cars - or walk on the snowbanks on either side of the road.

Just cannot get over the fact that he was beeping at kids?!?!?! They weren't loitering in the road - they were walking to their parents.

That man's behavior was way out of line and there's no excuse for what he was doing. I mean how long would he of had to wait? I've seen so many people nowadays that just don't have patience, and believe whatever they are doing is more important than being safe and kind to other.

 

[lindalinda]

I think you should call the school board, and ask that the bus driver stay with the stop sign out until the kids get into the cars.

 

[freckles and boo]

I am sorry, but the buses aren't allowed in the "private lake community" because you want to "keep traffic out"? This rubs me the wrong way. Wouldn't it be much safer for the children to be dropped off closer to their homes? What about special needs kids? They can't be dropped off at their homes? And why are there no sidewalks? Even though pedestrians always have the right of way while in the roadway, streets are for vehicles. It makes me nuts seeing kids playing in the road because it only takes one moron to change a life forever. I am not completely unsympathetic, as I have a four-year-old who rides a school bus and I know that people either don't know the rules or don't care. The guy was a jerk, but the situation certainly doesn't seem very safe for the kids.

 

[punkin]

I thought pedestrians always had the right of way.

 

[MushyMushy]

I am sorry, but the buses aren't allowed in the "private lake community" because you want to "keep traffic out"? This rubs me the wrong way. Wouldn't it be much safer for the children to be dropped off closer to their homes? What about special needs kids? They can't be dropped off at their homes? And why are there no sidewalks? Even though pedestrians always have the right of way while in the roadway, streets are for vehicles. It makes me nuts seeing kids playing in the road because it only takes one moron to change a life forever. I am not completely unsympathetic, as I have a four-year-old who rides a school bus and I know that people either don't know the rules or don't care. The guy was a jerk, but the situation certainly doesn't seem very safe for the kids.

Those were my thoughts exactly. Plus, having a huge number of kids like that at one stop really doesn't seem very safe to me at all.

 

[MareQ]

I am sorry, but the buses aren't allowed in the "private lake community" because you want to "keep traffic out"? This rubs me the wrong way. Wouldn't it be much safer for the children to be dropped off closer to their homes? What about special needs kids? They can't be dropped off at their homes? And why are there no sidewalks? Even though pedestrians always have the right of way while in the roadway, streets are for vehicles. It makes me nuts seeing kids playing in the road because it only takes one moron to change a life forever. I am not completely unsympathetic, as I have a four-year-old who rides a school bus and I know that people either don't know the rules or don't care. The guy was a jerk, but the situation certainly doesn't seem very safe for the kids.

Why would it rub you the wrong way? It's a private community. Our community maintains our own roads - we pay for our own plowing, pay for our own maintenance all with dues we pay every year. (On top of the crazy property taxes we already pay) The roads are small, the speed limit is 15 mph - non residential traffic is not allowed.

Special Needs children requiring door to door service must be picked up with a smaller bus. My oldest is a special needs child and we received door to door service when he required a car seat on the smaller bus. He is physically capable of riding the main bus now that he is older so that's what we do.

There are no sidewalks because most towns in rural areas don't have sidewalks.

 

[Nala2007]

People like that chap my hide...

I've lived in CA, MD, FL and HI and in all those states pedestrians have the right of way, and to me, even if they didn't, I would wait for a bunch of kids to walk across the street...seems kind of a no brainer in my eyes

 

[NAB]

They were already across the street right? You were walking down a road. Because the bus driver has to wait for the kids to cross.

I for one wouldn't have gone down a road I just saw all those kids going down.....

I guess I can picture your road with big huge snowbanks. Hope this doesn't happen often. For the safety of the kids and parents.

 

[freckles and boo]

Why would it rub you the wrong way? It's a private community. Our community maintains our own roads - we pay for our own plowing, pay for our own maintenance all with dues we pay every year. (On top of the crazy property taxes we already pay) The roads are small, the speed limit is 15 mph - non residential traffic is not allowed.

Special Needs children requiring door to door service must be picked up with a smaller bus. My oldest is a special needs child and we received door to door service when he required a car seat on the smaller bus. He is physically capable of riding the main bus now that he is older so that's what we do.

There are no sidewalks because most towns in rural areas don't have sidewalks.

It rubs me the wrong way because it would be safer for the kids to be dropped off closer to home. It seems like your community is trying to save on road maintenance costs at the expense of the children's safety. Presumably, the children would be much safer on the "private" road where everyone knows that kids are in the street than the "public" road where the general public can drive. It is apparently okay to block traffic and park a couple dozen cars along a public road but not let a bus into your community.

 

[almburr]

I have to say that rural towns do have sidewalks.

Why cant a sidewalk be put in to the bus stop?

 

[MareQ]

It rubs me the wrong way because it would be safer for the kids to be dropped off closer to home. It seems like your community is trying to save on road maintenance costs at the expense of the children's safety. Presumably, the children would be much safer on the "private" road where everyone knows that kids are in the street than the "public" road where the general public can drive. It is apparently okay to block traffic and park a couple dozen cars along a public road but not let a bus into your community.

Our cars are parked on "our" roads not on the "public" road. The only time anybody on the "public" road has to wait is when the bus is stopped and the children are crossing the street to get to us. The kids WERE walking on the private road when the guy was honking at them........