Should School Buses Pull over (when safe) to allow cars to pass

[DVC-Don]

When I was an officer in New Hampshire back in the 1980's we could ticket (and did) school bus drivers that did not pull over if they had more than six cars behind them.

 

[rgf207]

Why do you think you're (general you) more important? What is so urgent that you can't get to work a few mins later?

If you know the bus schedule leave earlier, later or take a different route.


Easy enough.

Around here, no, buses do not pull over ~ because they shouldn't have to.

Some people don't have the option of getting to work late and some can't leave the house later due to their own children being put on school buses

I wasn't implying that the people are more important and I'm sorry if it seemed that way. I was just thinking about courtesy to other drivers.

I dont think it puts the children's safety at risk since they are already on the school bus

No because the kids would never get to school.

lol. the kids would not mind that

When I was an officer in New Hampshire back in the 1980's we could ticket (and did) school bus drivers that did not pull over if they had more than six cars behind them.

That's interesting, I never knew that

 

[mickeyfan2]

In my rural community the buses pull over to let the cars pass.

 

[KAMLEM]

Also, from a parent's point of view, I wouldn't want my child to be sitting on a schoolbus full of kids for extra time. Not only does it mean that my kid had to leave earlier or get to school later (the amount of time it takes those hundreds of cars to pass the bus) but that's time with unsupervised kids (except the bus driver, of course) who have nothing to do but sit and get on each other's nerves. No thanks!!!!!

In most cases the bus could pull over and let the cars by in about a minute, maybe two. I can't see how kids being on the bus for that much longer is harmful.

 

[believe]

I vote no for the reason that kids are standing out in all types of weather waiting on that school bus, as well as some parents waiting to leave for work. For them to pull over it means that the bus schedule will change from day to day. In our area the buses run to the minute, 99% of the time. You can set your clock by them. We experiences that 1% of the time today, when they were 10 minutes late and DDs started to get worried they missed the bus. I decided to drive them to school.

Another thought is would people really be looking for that 'stop' sign. I would fear that going around the bus would become a standard and they would forget to watch for the 'stop' sign on the bus and a child would get hurt in the end.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

When I was an officer in New Hampshire back in the 1980's we could ticket (and did) school bus drivers that did not pull over if they had more than six cars behind them.

Sorry but I think that's ridiculous. I hope the law has been changed. Ours will pull over on occasion but otherwise suck it up & deal.

 

[declansdad]

Busses in our area do pull over in safe areas to allow for cars to pass. I don't see this being a big deal for them to do that.

To those who say simply change your schedule, that is not always easy to do.

 

[NMAmy]

Another thought is would people really be looking for that 'stop' sign. I would fear that going around the bus would become a standard and they would forget to watch for the 'stop' sign on the bus and a child would get hurt in the end.

Our buses do pull over to let cars pass. This is on a country road. I'm not honking or trying to get past. I know that the bus makes stops about every 50 yards on that stretch of road and I'm willing to just poke along behind the bus as opposed to trying to pass when it's difficult to see oncoming traffic. There are never more than 2 or 3 cars behind the bus. And since the bus has pulled over all the way off the road, no lights are flashing, and the driver has an arm out the window waving us past, it's pretty obvious the driver isn't just stopping to pick up another kid.

Frankly, in the pitch black of our road at 6:45 a.m., I couldn't see the Stop sign anyway but I do look for and pay attention to the lights.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Like others have said, on a long stretch of country road (one I used to take to work every morning), busses often slowed down and pulled to the side so some cars could go by. In most of the suburbs, this isn't a problem, because eventually the busses pull into subdivisions and off the main roads, but when you get a stretch of 4 or 5 miles on the same 2 lane road, it does become a problem, since they have to stop at every individual child's house.

I doubt they're required to do so and I wouldn't expect them to do it, but when they do, it's a nice gesture and doesn't affect their schedule at all.

 

[MamaLema]

I don't know about requiring it but the school buses in my area DO pull over and let cars pass.

Ours do too, and I have no problem with it.

 

[java]

For us there is about a 5 mile stretch that you can get snagged on behind the bus in the AM. There is one spot on that stretch where the bus pulls into a parking lot to pick up some kids(it's a BAR too!) but at that point MOST of the buses let you drive by. It is right after a single lane tunnel too- so it gets way clogged.
I don't mind the pickup - it is the chatting with the driver that drives me nuts- there is a line of about 25 cars behind you waiting get on the bus and get moving.

So I vote YES if there is a safe spot to pull over(and for us it is actually a stop) Pull it over. The slow moving farm trucks, 4 wheelers ect all pull over. My kids will survive the 3 minutes it takes- instead of getting to school early and sitting in the parking lot while they wait for school to open.

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

I drive a school bus for New Hampshire and our policy is if you have 5 or more cars behind you and if there is a safe place to get fully off the road to let cars pass then you can. What I do is I have a certain spot everyday that I can use to let the cars go by.

 

[Mkrop]

gosh I wish the slow moving farm trucks and contruction trucks would pull over in my area. I have more probelm getting behind one of them then the buses.

 

[Holly Sox]

I vote no for the reason that kids are standing out in all types of weather waiting on that school bus, as well as some parents waiting to leave for work. For them to pull over it means that the bus schedule will change from day to day. In our area the buses run to the minute, 99% of the time. You can set your clock by them. We experiences that 1% of the time today, when they were 10 minutes late and DDs started to get worried they missed the bus. I decided to drive them to school.

Another thought is would people really be looking for that 'stop' sign. I would fear that going around the bus would become a standard and they would forget to watch for the 'stop' sign on the bus and a child would get hurt in the end.

Wow! Kids in your area wait outside for the bus???? In the weather??????

Here, most kids wait inside the house or in heated car, driven to the stop by a parent. In no case do the children prepare for getting on the bus until it has come to a complete stop. That's when kid puts on his/her jacket, shoes, grabs booksack and then makes his/her path to the bus. Always at a very careful rate of speed. Never running, no, no, no. Then, once the precious darling is on the bus, s/he must choose a seat very carefully. Once that process is complete, the bus can finally begin to move, always allowing the parent who was driving the "wait-mobile" to pull out first, if applicable.

And there don't seem to be "bus-stops". We are in a rural area. The bus stop for each kid or family is at that family's front door.


I know that not every bus rider acts like the above, but in my area it does seem to be the norm. Very frustrating to have to see the above unfold 5 times in a half-mile.


My older son rides the bus... I get him up early and he has all his belongings ready and waiting by the front door. When I hear the bus approaching, he is already out the door and across the yard. The one time he forgot something and tried to run back in while the bus was waiting, I asked what it was.. it was something non-essential and he went to school without it. I'd have let him come in for homework, a book, or something else essential. (I'm mean, but not that mean)

 

[shortbun]

School buses run on a schedule. Pulling over to allow 'hundreds' of cars to pass would blow that schedule every day and get children to school late. If these roads have that much traffic, it's also dangerous to create a scenario where large buses are pulled off on a narrow berm and many, impatient drivers are trying to pass. Setting a precendent by pulling over could create a very dangerous situation sometime when cars decide to pass a bus on a rural two lane road and find traffic coming the other way. Take a different route, leave at a different time, be patient. It's the law in every state that cars wait as buses pickup. Children get hit by impatient drivers who think they know best and pass buses. We've had two children killed in Ohio this school year by impatient drivers. Don't be one.

 

[rgf207]

School buses run on a schedule. Pulling over to allow 'hundreds' of cars to pass would blow that schedule every day and get children to school late. If these roads have that much traffic, it's also dangerous to create a scenario where large buses are pulled off on a narrow berm and many, impatient drivers are trying to pass. Setting a precendent by pulling over could create a very dangerous situation sometime when cars decide to pass a bus on a rural two lane road and find traffic coming the other way. Take a different route, leave at a different time, be patient. It's the law in every state that cars wait as buses pickup. Children get hit by impatient drivers who think they know best and pass buses. We've had two children killed in Ohio this school year by impatient drivers. Don't be one.

Just to clarify. This post IN NO WAY suggest passing buses, not stoping for buses when their lights are on or anything else which would endanger the lives of children or anyone else.

This simply states if a bus should pull over, when safe to do so, to let other cars pass.

I just dont want this thread taking a turn in the wrong direction thinking anyone was even considering putting someone elses life in danger

 

[shortbun]

Wow! Kids in your area wait outside for the bus???? In the weather??????

Here, most kids wait inside the house or in heated car, driven to the stop by a parent. In no case do the children prepare for getting on the bus until it has come to a complete stop. That's when kid puts on his/her jacket, shoes, grabs booksack and then makes his/her path to the bus. Always at a very careful rate of speed. Never running, no, no, no. Then, once the precious darling is on the bus, s/he must choose a seat very carefully. Once that process is complete, the bus can finally begin to move, always allowing the parent who was driving the "wait-mobile" to pull out first, if applicable.

And there don't seem to be "bus-stops". We are in a rural area. The bus stop for each kid or family is at that family's front door....

THIS kind of pampering is what causes buses to stop WAAAAY too long and run late. In our city, children are expected to be at a 'designated place of safety' prior to arrival of the bus. This 'designated place' is NOT in Mom's car. If children waiting in Mom's car are not out of the car and in line to get on my bus by the time the children who ARE following instructions are on the bus, the door closes. If I have to wait for a child more than a few times, the principal gets a note and calls the parent advising that their child will be left if the behavior continues. We have over 30,000 children to pick up and most of them are standing outside in the weather. Waiting for those students in cars makes us late for those who are following the procedures. This system was set up by our State Highway Patrol and the 'designated place of safety' must be written on our directionals and on our buses anytime a State officer wants to see it. Here in Columbus, we take the safety of our children seriously. No impatient driver takes precedence over that.

 

[declansdad]

School buses run on a schedule. Pulling over to allow 'hundreds' of cars to pass would blow that schedule every day and get children to school late. If these roads have that much traffic, it's also dangerous to create a scenario where large buses are pulled off on a narrow berm and many, impatient drivers are trying to pass. Setting a precendent by pulling over could create a very dangerous situation sometime when cars decide to pass a bus on a rural two lane road and find traffic coming the other way. Take a different route, leave at a different time, be patient. It's the law in every state that cars wait as buses pickup. Children get hit by impatient drivers who think they know best and pass buses. We've had two children killed in Ohio this school year by impatient drivers. Don't be one.

Bus drivers know their routes and they know the traffic on those routes. Having a few spots to pull over could be included in the schedule.

As has been stated, it isn't always easy to change your time or route. You may have to wait with your child for the bus, or you may live on the only road in and out of an area.

 

[juligrl]

Nope. Leave earlier. JMO

 

[DISUNC]

Where I live you MUST stop for school buses. Doesn't matter if you are behind them, or facing them in oncoming traffic.

Yes it is a royal pain in the butt to get 'stuck' behind one, and I have been late to appointments because of this. However in the BIG Picture, Better safe than Sorry.