Commuting - Breakin' the law

This morning I was running late (as usual) and traffic was heavier than usual. I get about half way to work and there is a school bus stopped with its red lights going and stop sign out. I almost always stop at the top of this hill anyway because there is a light at the dead bottom of the hill. I wait to make sure I catch it green. Well, this bus sits there and sits there. I try to be a good law abiding biker, but I'm late and the light has already cycled once. I see two kids walk out of a nearby housing complex and board the bus. Still it sits there, I guess waiting for other kids to come out. I put both feet on the ground and slowly rolled by the bus so I could catch the next green light. I only felt mildly guilty.

I hate to sound like an old fogey, but in my day, we had to wait outside for the bus. If we weren't there, we got left behind. As a matter of fact, that's how I really got into biking in the first place. I missed the bus a lot.

You have my sympathy.

If it were me, I would have picked up the bike, gotten out of the street and walked past the bus, and then been in the clear legally.

Yea...don't mess with school buses...that's bad juju

I hope they didn't get your plate number.

I think you would be in the clear if you walked the bike past the bus. I can't imagine anyone giving you a ticket even if you rode by, but it never hurts to be on the safe side.

I agree with you on waiting for the bus outside. There is a school bus stop across the street from my house and the bus routinely sits there for up to 10 minutes as the high school students filter down the street to get on. Some lesson we're teaching them about being on time and planning appropriately so they can catch the bus!

I was once passed by a school bus with the stopsign out and the lights flashing.

You read that right. And that was in my car. I wonder if I could get busted for that.

They really need to retrain some of the school bus drivers around here. The whole objective of safety for kids seems a bit lost in the mayhem.

that's wacked

Been listening to a little too much priest?

Been listening to a little too much priest?

Not lately, though I did have the Beavis and Butthead rendition running through my head when I wrote the title.

I would have ridden by slowly...probably on the oposite side of the road...maybe on the sidewalk... :rolleyes:

Hey, the intent of the law in this case is to prevent kids from being run down.

The only problem with passing on the left would be that Murphy's law would call for the bus driver to pull in the sign and start rolling right as you are about to clear his front left fender.

Now that you've put this in my head, I'll be standing there in indecision when it happens to me.

I hate to sound like an old fogey, but in my day, we had to wait outside for the bus. If we weren't there, we got left behind. As a matter of fact, that's how I really got into biking in the first place. I missed the bus a lot.

In my day we learned to read a clock and left on time.

In my day we learned to read a clock and left on time.

Ouch. Slammed by a fellow Durhamite. That hurts. Look, I'm always late, always have been, always will be. I can read a clock, I just choose to ignore it.

Yeah, WTF? I waited outside for the school bus, dang it. Kids these days! (I mean it)

It's possible, though, that the bus is on a schedule and was early.

I would walk, or use the opposite side sidewalk.

I was once in a situation like this where the bus driver pointed at me, then waved me on (there were no other vehicles.) He probably broke the rules and would get in trouble for doing it, but it was a kind gesture and I waved back.

Al

I put both feet on the ground and slowly rolled by the bus so I could catch the next green light. I only felt mildly guilty.

Guilty? why on earth guilty? If i'm interpreting you correctly you walked your bike past the bus?

Pedestrians (even those with bikes in hand) can walk circles around a bus with flashing lights if they darn well please.

Personally, I would probably ride slowly past the bus. Like wmgardner facetiously pointed out-- they can't get my plate number if I don't have a license plate.

breakin the law breakin the law

If the lights red, no traffic, no police I run it

breakin the law breakin the law

If the lights red, no traffic, no police I run it


Me too..on the bike, of course...

sometimes you gotta watch where you are, some places are easier on bikers than others.......

No guilt--that's one of the beauties of owning a bike. I'll jump to the sidewalk occasionally if the road presents a slow or dangerous situation. It is rare when I do it, but fine, I think.

There are traffic laws that are meant primarily for cars. You pose much less danger to those kids. Walking your 30 pound bike is a reasonable solution.

the OP seems a bit strange from the european point of view as here it is perfectly legal to drive past a stationary school bus- no partcular need even to slow down in a car- so feeling guilty for just tippy toeing past on a bike is quite funny

I don't do sidewalks. It only takes one elder or child to come out of a doorway and BAM!!!!! Try explaining that to the police. Oh the guilt! I agree about the lights though, red is merely a friendly suggestion to just be a wee bit more careful. :p

the OP seems a bit strange from the european point of view as here it is perfectly legal to drive past a stationary school bus- no partcular need even to slow down in a car- so feeling guilty for just tippy toeing past on a bike is quite funny

It's a VERY big deal here. If a school bus is stopped and has its red lights flashing, traffic must stop.

The houses around here are about 40 feet back from the sidewalks, so I'm not putting anyone in danger.

I try to follow the rules - the law - common courtesy. What gets my goat is that sometimes it seems like I'm the only one. I guess I need to start running the occasional stop sign to make myself feel better... ;)

I've dismounted and walked past busses. That's one of the great things about cycling. We can instantly become pedestrians if it's more convenient. I think that's part of the reason the cagers hate and envy us.

I would have ridden past slowly on the other side of the road centre-line, since traffic is stopped in both directions. I wouldnt have waited behind the bus at all.

Just an epilogue for the school bus post, this morning I was passed by a full-sized school bus.

On this bus, the "kid control arm" that is supposed to extend from the front when the bus is stopped was bent completely backwards, extending 10 feet off the right side of the bus, and sweeping over the curb lane like a snowplow.

The driver was being rather heavy in the gas, so I heard the bus roaring up behind me in time to get out of the way. It looked like the arm was hitting sign posts and stuff along the sidewalk when he pulled back into the curb lane.

I hope it hit something sturdy enough to break it off before he mowed down any pedestrians.

I have this problem just about every day. My comute time along one particular road is the same time the middle school kids get picked up. We know which busses to watch out for and which are safe. I have passed them flashing lights several times, I just slow way down and creep around them.

In North Carolina a car driver will loose his license for two months for passing a school bus in an auto. The question for me though is will they take away my bike for two months if I do it on the bike?

I hope they didn't get your plate number.

They do not need it. You are a commuter? That is on your regular route? The bus driver just tells the cops, they wait for you, and pull you over. Don't even need a drivers liceince? You do need ID of some sort. In California you CAN get points put on your drivers' liceince for bike violations. Kids under 16 can be delayed getting their permits until 17 years or later for bike violations that accumulated points. Get off and walk by. Stopping when motorists are watching seems to be good Karma. I like the European attitude on this.

You did not do anything wrong ... is not like you are endangering the little darlings or anything!!!

You broke the law ... but I do not see anything wrong with that ridiculous rule being broken, on a bicycle, with no kids on the bustop.

That being said ... the busdriver is not suppossed to turn on the REDS till the kids are on the sidewalk ... driveway ... or wherever they are suppossed to be.

Is not like if the bus driver is early, turns on the reds, and waits as long as possible. If the driver is early, the driver is suppossed to wait BEFORE the stop, not at the stop, where is safe to do so, and also where is possible to pass it.

Otherwhise, it would be like a fat lady sitting there in the middle of a staircase.

In the US, when a school bus is in a stop, traffic stops in both directions in the whole street? That's freaking funny... On a bike, I'd never consider stopping in a situation like that. Slow down if needed, that's all. And I don't see why cars shouldn't drive around school buses slowly, either.

Yeah, WTF? I waited outside for the school bus, dang it. Kids these days! (I mean it)

It's possible, though, that the bus is on a schedule and was early.
I doubt it. Along my route, one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the number of parents that drive their kids to the end of their driveway.

Yeah, you heard me right. Granted these tend to be longer driveways, but we're generally talking 50-150 yards. There seems to be a rule that the bus can't move until everyone is seated. Too bad this safety paranoia doesn't extend to making the kids more active so they don't get all sorts of health problems. I'm older than a lot of their parents, but whenever I pass a high school athletic field where there's some team sport going on, I'm usually shocked by the physical condition of most of the "athletes".

I stop for busses, partly because kids can be unpredictable, partly to keep good relations with the motorists. If I really felt rushed, I'd jump off the bike and jog by. When stopping for one minute messes your commute up, you're cutting your margins too close.

For transit buses, I tend to give a wide clearance what with the new yield law. But they always seem to turn back into traffic just as I'm about to pass them.

This morning I was running late (as usual) and traffic was heavier than usual. I get about half way to work and there is a school bus stopped with its red lights going and stop sign out. I almost always stop at the top of this hill anyway because there is a light at the dead bottom of the hill. I wait to make sure I catch it green. Well, this bus sits there and sits there. I try to be a good law abiding biker, but I'm late and the light has already cycled once. I see two kids walk out of a nearby housing complex and board the bus. Still it sits there, I guess waiting for other kids to come out. I put both feet on the ground and slowly rolled by the bus so I could catch the next green light. I only felt mildly guilty.

I hate to sound like an old fogey, but in my day, we had to wait outside for the bus. If we weren't there, we got left behind. As a matter of fact, that's how I really got into biking in the first place. I missed the bus a lot.

Bad boy bad boy watcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do when they come for yu?

school bus = sacrosanct

I've been in this situation. I wait or I walk the bike past. Just bad karma to ignore the bus rule. Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do and that means stop. I bend and break lots of other rules but that one is unbreakable for me.