Passing a school bus ticket question

amother

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 8:50 am

I got a ticket in the mail for passing a school bus with its stop sign out. The stop sign has a camera that automatically takes a picture of cars passing it. It's a $250 ticket and I'm thinking about fighting it but before I take off from work to do so, I'm hoping to get opinions here as to whether my excuse is valid or not.

I was surprised to receive the ticket in the mail because I wouldn't ignore a school bus stop sign. I was able to watch a video of the incident online which is time stamped. I see that it's a two way street and I'm approaching the bus from the opposite direction. The bus puts out its stop sign as I'm driving towards it. Approximately one second later I drive past the stop sign.

My argument is that a driver should be given adequate time to stop and shouldn't be forced to slam on the brakes. The question is what's adequate. Well a yellow light in a 25 MPH zone is required to last 3 seconds before turning red. Less than that is inadequate. I feel the same standard should apply here.

Does this seem reasonable or am I wasting my time? Thank you.

amother

Pearl

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 9:56 am

amother Bisque wrote:

You will not win the dispute in NYC

And rightly so.

Did the bus have flashing lights? The bus would've stopped or slowed for a moment before pulling out the stop sign. That should've put you on alert.

happy chick

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 9:56 am

amother Bisque wrote:

You will not win the dispute in NYC

This. You will not win.

Write it off as a kapara.

ETA - my mom once went down to fight a ticket for making a right turn in front of a school. The judge was such a bastard, not only he wouldn't let it go, he added on an additional surcharge for some made up reason.

Last edited by happy chick on Tue, Aug 01 2023, 9:59 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Cherry

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:04 am

amother OP wrote:

No, It only has a stop sign that kind of swings open.

Very strange. Where do you live? I have never seen a school bus without lights.

I would have passed it too. How could you know the bus would stop?

amother

Cherry

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:05 am

amother Crimson wrote:

Take it as a lesson... When you're approaching a school bus, slow down.

You should not slow down every time you see a school bus. That doesn't make any sense. A school bus should have lights so you know if the driver is planning to stop.

amother

Snapdragon

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:17 am

amother Crimson wrote:

Take it as a lesson... When you're approaching a school bus, slow down.

Why? We're not supposed to slow down whenever we see a school bus. Yellow lights flashing on the school bus, indicates that we need to slow down. Red indicates that we need to stop. No lights flashing, no need to slow down.

amother

Tiffanyblue

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:17 am

You don't have to actually slow down when you approach school bus. But you HAVE to be on the lookout and ready to stop if bus stops.
School bus stops are sooooo dangerous! my 5 yr old son has to cross to his bus and I witnessed a few times this year how the bus stops, stop sign out and cars quickly pass. Even a half a second can cause a life. I wait with my son within arms reach because I have to hold onto him till I see all cars have stopped otherwise he would see his bus and just run as soon as it stops.
NO EXCUSES FOR PASSING A BUS STOP SIGN!!!! I know a kid nebech who actually was nifter after being run over by a car passing his bus stop sign. (Story happened about 15 years ago)
NO EXCUSES FOR EVER PASSING A BUS STOP SIGN!!!!

amother

Cherry

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:21 am

amother Tiffanyblue wrote:

That is exactly why busses have flashing lights to warn drivers. There is no excuse for a bus not to have those lights. They save lives.

It is IMPOSSIBLE for a car to stop instantly. Your ire should be directed at the SCHOOL BUS COMPANY or the BOARD OF ED or whoever it is that authorized this school bus to pick up children WITHOUT FLASHING LIGHTS.

amother

Tiffanyblue

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:24 am

amother Cherry wrote:

I don't believe that there weren't flashing lights every school bus lights flash when driver brakes. And every bus goes through intense inspection often ...

amother

Cherry

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:28 am

amother Tiffanyblue wrote:

I don't believe that there weren't flashing lights every school bus lights flash when driver brakes. And every bus goes through intense inspection often ...

OP just looked at the video. You don't believe the video is accurate, or you think OP is lying about what the video shows?

Ema of 5

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:30 am

amother Cherry wrote:

You should not slow down every time you see a school bus. That doesn't make any sense. A school bus should have lights so you know if the driver is planning to stop.

And you should still slow down, just in case. How fast are you driving anyway, that’s you wouldn’t want to slow down?

lamplighter

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:32 am

If there were no lights flashing, you may have a case. It will be very hard to win but no flashing lights is your only chance.
I'm not sure how there weren't lights, the lights automatically get activated when the break is on.

Ema of 5

Tue, Aug 01 2023, 10:35 am

amother Cherry wrote:

Very strange. Where do you live? I have never seen a school bus without lights.

I would have passed it too. How could you know the bus would stop?

Stopped buses don’t necessarily have flashing lights. The red lights only go on when the stop sign is out, and I think yellow lights have to be put on manually just like in a car. I’ve seen plenty of buses stopped without any flashing lights.
I think bus drivers need to be aware of the other cars around them. If there’s a car, like OPs, that is only a second away, let it pass and then put the stop sign out. But drivers need to be aware too. Any time you see a bus on a residential street, you should be aware of the fact that it might stop and put out it’s stop sign, and you might not have enough time to pass it before.