cited for passing a school bus

By the OP’s own statement, he saw the yellows, tried to pass, and the lights turned red and the sign came out when he was about even with the drivers window. He tried to pass and didnt get it done before the stop sign showed. Knowing full well that the bus driver controlled that timing, thats a chance he took, and it did not work out.

IF he gets the citation, AND IF the bus has a camera that shows him in that situation (these two conditions are not yet known), THEN there is little to no chance of getting out of it. No judge would want to set the precedent of allowing vehicles to scoot around busses “because they thought there was time”. To think otherwise is foolish, IMO.

If it goes to court, my guess is a fine, court costs, and a butt chewing from the judge about common sense and wasting his time.

ok I just had this happen to me on my commute into work this morning and I gotta say I don’t know how the hell you managed to get into this situation. Bus in front of me and the yellow lights start flashing. im at least 40 ft behind the bus and im not moving until the bus does.

I’ll admit that I haven’t read every single post, but did Tangler (the original poster) ever give a reason as to why he passed? Are people in that big of a hurry or lack the patience that they feel that it’s acceptable to pass a school bus? Doesn’t make sense to me.

blank wrote:

I’ll admit that I haven’t read every single post, but did Tangler (the original poster) ever give a reason as to why he passed? Are people in that big of a hurry or lack the patience that they feel that it’s acceptable to pass a school bus? Doesn’t make sense to me.

Agree

The more I read the less sure I am of him getting a fine.

Yellow means caution, prepare to stop.
Red means stop.

Like traffic lights we can go through a yellow light.

It seems to me the bus driver should be looking before flipping out the arm. Then again, going through a yellow light when it turns red is breaking the law too.

My little common sense tells me not to pass a bus if the yellow or red lights are flashing.

When is your court date?

big_g wrote:

With all the hang em high people…. just a question… why are there yellow lights on a school bus ? On traffic lights, I was taught the yellow light follows a green and is designed to slow and stop approaching traffic that clearly will not get through the intersection before turning red… so on a school bus, does yellow mean lock em up and stop where ever you are in the process ? If so, shouldn’t they just be red so as to not confuse ?

exactly, if they meant stop, that is how the law would be written. its very clear that regardless of your feelings, the law doesn’t care about your feelings. if there is evidence you were passing and it was yellow, you should be vindicated. if there is no video evidence, you might be up a creek.

B-man wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>big_g wrote:</div>
With all the hang em high people…. just a question… why are there yellow lights on a school bus ? On traffic lights, I was taught the yellow light follows a green and is designed to slow and stop approaching traffic that clearly will not get through the intersection before turning red… so on a school bus, does yellow mean lock em up and stop where ever you are in the process ? If so, shouldn’t they just be red so as to not confuse ?

Not following your logic?

Instant mobile red “traffic” lights would cause thousands of car accidents across the country every day.

The entire purpose of the alternating yellow lights on a bus is to give all drivers fair warning to stop.

no thats absolutely not the reason. there are flashing yellow lights at intersections all over the country with no red light coming which mean, go with caution. thats exactly what the yellow lights on a school bus mean as well. There are tons of school busses waiting for sports teams to come that sit there on the side of the road with yellows flashing. they’d have to wave everyone on if they were going to be sitting there for 20 minutes and all you guys are stopping because it might turn red at some point in time.

If you have young kids on a school bus and its yielding for their bus stop, would you want some dude to quick pass because technically it was yellow about to go red. No that’s just not a bright idea. Stop for the 2 minutes. There are kids going to be around.

Every one knows if your following a school bus and the yellows come on its slowing to stop. Common sense.

hnd wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>B-man wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>big_g wrote:</div>
With all the hang em high people…. just a question… why are there yellow lights on a school bus ? On traffic lights, I was taught the yellow light follows a green and is designed to slow and stop approaching traffic that clearly will not get through the intersection before turning red… so on a school bus, does yellow mean lock em up and stop where ever you are in the process ? If so, shouldn’t they just be red so as to not confuse ?

Not following your logic?

Instant mobile red “traffic” lights would cause thousands of car accidents across the country every day.

The entire purpose of the alternating yellow lights on a bus is to give all drivers fair warning to stop.

no thats absolutely not the reason. there are flashing yellow lights at intersections all over the country with no red light coming which mean, go with caution. thats exactly what the yellow lights on a school bus mean as well. There are tons of school busses waiting for sports teams to come that sit there on the side of the road with yellows flashing. they’d have to wave everyone on if they were going to be sitting there for 20 minutes and all you guys are stopping because it might turn red at some point in time.

You are confusing the “flashers”(blinker level) for the yellow flashing lights on top of the bus. You are also confusing common sense with some form of rationalizationism(if that’s a word.)
If the damn yellow lights are flashing on top of the back of the bus you are a damn fool to try and out run the red. Straight up plain and simple. it’s not an intersection where a car will pull out on a green in 5-10 seconds. It’s a SCHOOL BUS WHERE A CHILD IS ABOUT TO COME OUT IN THE STREET TO GET ON THE BUS!!!!!

His time was more important than waiting for the bus. Therefore gun it and beat the lights.