Pass a Stopped School Bus in PEI and Lose Your License

NC does about the same thing... And I'm 100% in agreement with them!

I could see this as being a bit unwieldy to enforce in a large state like California or Texas. PEI can manage it due to size. In that province they have a major incentive to not ignore this law, over and above the 12 points on the license and the 5,000CAD fine. Outside of Charlottetown, Summerside, and (arguably) Montague, PEI is mixed rural and agricultural. There are few, if any four lane roads in PEI once you get off the TransCanada Highway, which means a lot of opportunities to get flagged for this.

I'd like to see something like this be applied in more locations than the two mentioned.

the schoolbus driver can or will take your licence number and pass it on to the police. So don't think you can get away with something !

Seems like an opportunity for a front pointing camera to record whenever the red lights are on.

On a side note. Why do school buses NOT have seat belts? I guess the little monsters would cut them to sheds the first day and use them to tie up the bus driver.

That is a good question. Some states or local jurisdictions require seat belts in school buses and some don't. Even if all students don't use them it could be a teachable moment.

As a retired firefighter I have responded to many traffic accidents where the seat belt meant the difference in life or death.

This school bus had seatbelts. It seems many lives were saved by them:

https://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-nj-school-bus-int...

dobs108

Never could figure out why school buses don't have seat belts either. I always figured it was a cost issue with redesigning the seats and such. Enough law suits and that will change eventually.

They "may" talk to the driver BUT they won't ticket them because they didn't witness it. Even if it was recorded with a dash cam they still won't ticket. Very disappointing!

Disappointing! I sure hope you are not wanting school bus drivers that report traffic violations to have the same enforcement authority as law enforcement officers...

This is one area where I think a dash cam protects us. Often a school bus pulls over with no indicators, i.e. standing on the shoulder. Suddenly, the lights go from none to red. Having a dash cam can prove that as we were passing the school bus, there were no flashers.

I am absolutely for not passing school buses on red. Also, for not mowing down pedestrians crossing no matter how slowly they cross with their heads down sending emails.

But, in the Phila. area, it happens all the time where a school bus is pulled over with no indicators, and people are not sure what to do. There is no reason a driver in that position should have the ability to suspend a person's license, imho.

It it did happen to me one time--I waited about 120 sec. with the bus doing nothing. I went out to pass and suddenly red lights turned on. Did not have a dash cam back then, and nothing happened. But the driver honked at me. Go ahead, google it. It will say if driver honked, you need a lawyer. Funny.

The caliber of School Bus drivers I've seen in my time would not be people I would trust to give honest report. I've seen Road Rage, speeding, running lights and Stop Signs just to name a few here locally by "School Bus Drivers"

Agree! Yet, it makes you wonder how we can put such people (as you describe) in charge of driving a 15 ton vehicle loaded with children.

You get what you pay for. A lot of the school busses around here are third party carriers, probably don't make much and it's normally a part time job.

I have seen, filmed on my dashcam and reported many here, passing me on the right shoulder of the road in an active school zone, going around down train crossing gates, even stopping in traffic right on a RR crossing. Doubt any action was taken, sure haven't noticed any better driving habits from those big yellow things.

cameras are being installed on all school buses in NC. If you are on film you will be ticketed.
The only issue I see is the cameras are all front facing. It is a violation regardless of which direction you are traveling.

my dash cam caught someone in SW Phila going through and over the train tracks with gates going down...not school bus related. Somehow I feel that Phila is what I envision the 1970's to be, wild wild west. One rarely ever sees any police so there is nearly a zero deterrent level. Again, I am all for red light cams, but not so much speed cams.

In Texas school bus drivers are required to use the flashing yellows first to indicate a pending stop. Straight from nothing to flashing red will get the driver fired.

The numbnuts in NY that drive around with the flashing yellows on... Or even the reds?

As to seatbelts on school buses, I suspect people who look at the odds think that the types of situations that occur with school buses don't imply a significant outcome advantage for belts. In particular, I recall that the primary advantage for seat belts in cars arises from reducing ejections from the vehicle of people in the front seats. I suspect school bus accidents seldom involve fatal or injurious ejections.

In other words, they don't have seatbelts for the same reason that the waiting area chairs at your local cafe don't have them--it would not help enough to make it worthwhile.

I see the busses with the yellows on long before they need to be, some even turning onto another street before reaching the bus stop, but for the reds to be on the door has to be open, with kids on the bus they shouldn't be moving with the door open.

You will be ticketed, no questions about it. This is not the USA, different laws apply and are legislated.

Will they work it like red light cameras, where the ticket goes to the registered owner of the vehicle, and doesn't include points on your license, like a parking ticket? If it is a front facing camera, all they will see is the back of your vehicle as it goes by, and won't allow them to ID the driver.

I'm all for it. There was a story back in Oct, a 24 yr old woman killed 3 siblings in Indiana while going past a school bus. She claims she knew it was stopped and sawed the flashing lights but didn't know it was a school bus. Twin 6 yr olds and a 9 year old, very sad.

On the topic of seatbelts, I used to wonder also why school buses don't have them. Now I think it is better they don't for safety. Imagine a bus on fire, rescuers would have a heck of a time trying to get all the children to safety, or if a bus happened to be in a lake/pond or something. Plus, seat belts can be a real problem with only a bus driver and a bus full of children, think of the potential stranglation that can happen.

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Happened again today. A school bus stopped in the right lane of a two-lane road (each direction). Nobody knows what to do as they are afraid understandably that the lights will go from none to red. So we sit, and sit, and sit, nobody doing anything.

I moved out and passed, but was glad I have a dashcam so I can clearly establish my approach, how long I sat with no indicators from the school bus, and my passing of the bus.

These drivers imho have poor training and it's simply ironic they have the power to suspend one's DL.

You can pass a school bus when its red lights are not on, but you cannot cross over a double yellow line to do so in most states. (A few states now permit crossing over double yellow to pass bicycles--but not school buses).

Regarding seat belts, NHTSA has done many studies and found that fewer than 10 children die in school bus accidents per year in the United States, and these deaths likely would not have been prevented by seat belts. Riding in a school bus without seat belts is 40 times safer than riding in a car with seat belts. Nearly a thousand children die each year in the USA by walking or riding in a car to school, and nobody is considering seriously moving to stop this.

(I certainly wouldn't want to be a driver charged responsible with ensuring that everyone on my bus has their seat belts fastened at all times, but that's just me).

My understanding is the same as yours. Another thing, and I think I am right, is that you cannot ignore a school bus reds when you are traveling the opposite direction, unless there is a physical divider. But look along City Line Ave. in Phila. The opposing traffic never stops, when there is nothing but a double yellow.

Also, I have seen in NJ, signs warning not to pass over the line. This is common when going straight, traffic is lined up like there's no tomorrow, and the left turn lane is clear. People often cross the double yellow to shoot up the left.

imho, maybe the bus driver should not have any say in how long there are yellows last. When they pull the lever, there are yellows, and they cannot open the door for x sec until the lights turn red. A human should not be able to go from no indicators to red, then suspend a license...

From team.rocket:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/children-struck-killed-school-bus-...

First responders at the scene were crying and it was entirely appropriate for them to do so.

dobs108