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-   -   School Busses (https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/524719-school-busses.html)

rumrunn6 03-27-09 10:48 AM

School Busses
 
Regarding School Busses - It occured to me this morning as I was waiting for one to load in my card, that a bicyclist might be inclined to wait with the traffic rather than riding past. However, I noticed a sidewalk and wondered how folks wold feel if a bicyclist got off their bike and walked past the bus then got back on and kept riding before the cars were allowed to pass. Would that be an infringement in traffic law? I don't think so. Personally I think it's fine if the bicyclist rides past the bus - but I know we're supposed to follow the same laws.

What do we think about walking our bikes past a loading school bus?

CliftonGK1 03-27-09 10:52 AM

The bus is going to pass you again 1/4mi up the road, so what's the difference if you sit and wait, vs. repeatedly hopping on/off and walking past it?

rumrunn6 03-27-09 11:01 AM

interesting point but I was referring to a bus going in the other direction

enine 03-27-09 11:14 AM

hmm, I never thought about that, I've stopped for the bus while driving in the winter but haven't been past one while commuting. The bus technically has a stop sign and some states have those laws allowing bikes to carefully roll through a stop sign or red light, wonder if that applies? Wonder about the people on bikes who don't stop at stop signs, do they not stop for busses either?

rwp 03-27-09 11:20 AM

Walking by a shoolbus is perfectly legal. Just give it plenty of room before getting back onto the bike so there's no question that you were walking - not riding - the whole way past. The driver will be watching and they love to report people who illegally pass.

mangosalsa 03-27-09 11:33 AM

Or ......

http://bikehacks.com/wp-content/uplo...s-tricycle.jpg


Walking by the bus is legal.

uke 03-27-09 12:03 PM

Walking is legal. Cycling or driving is not.

BroadSTPhilly 03-27-09 12:05 PM

Don't care will pass.

anastrophe 03-27-09 12:08 PM

Being able to take walking shortcuts is one of the perks of being a bike commuter, that's the privilege of not being in a car. It's what I'd do.



Originally Posted by BroadSTPhilly (Post 8611597)
Don't care will pass.

Really? Would you care if you hit a child?

apricissimus 03-27-09 12:17 PM


Originally Posted by anastrophe (Post 8611624)
Being able to take walking shortcuts is one of the perks of being a bike commuter, that's the privilege of not being in a car. It's what I'd do.




Really? Would you care if you hit a child?

I think you misread the post. He said "will pass", not "will hit a child."

Unless you maybe assumed he rides blindfolded....

ItsJustMe 03-27-09 12:35 PM

I always wait, since that's required by law, and people do not take that law lightly around here; two kids have been killed by impatient people in the local school districts in the last 10 years and people remember that. A cyclist would probably at least get the stinkeye, a car is likely to be chased down to get the plate number and 911'd in, and the cops WILL come and bust their asses for it.

There aren't any sidewalks on my route, so I'd have to walk on the road. Since you're supposed to not drive within 100 feet of a stopped bus, which is 30 feet long or so, I'd have to walk 230 feet to get past a stopped bus. There's no point in walking past that, by the time I walked that far, I could have just waited and gone when the flashers whent off.

When the flashers go off, I will either pass or not depending on the area of my route. There are some areas where the bus stops are so numerous and close together that I can easily outdistance the bus; in those areas I'll pass, sprint for a bit to keep ahead of the bus until the next stop, then I'm good. If the next stop is a long way off, I wait behind.

BroadSTPhilly 03-27-09 12:40 PM


Originally Posted by apricissimus (Post 8611684)
I think you misread the post. He said "will pass", not "will hit a child."

Unless you maybe assumed he rides blindfolded....

Thanks for covering that for me.

CommuterRun 03-27-09 12:46 PM


Originally Posted by rumrunn6 (Post 8611002)
What do we think about walking our bikes past a loading school bus?

No different than a pedestrian walking past a loading or unloading bus. No big deal at all.

I take the lane, stop and wait.

modernjess 03-27-09 01:06 PM

I would never even consider it. I am a vehicle on the road. I stop and wait. My viewpoint is: I have the same rights as all vehicles, I act like vehicle, and I expect to be treated as one in return.

hnsq 03-27-09 01:10 PM


Originally Posted by apricissimus (Post 8611684)
I think you misread the post. He said "will pass", not "will hit a child."

Unless you maybe assumed he rides blindfolded....

You could use the same argument to pass while driving, couldn't you?

Sounds more like a justification by an impatient person than a reason to me...

unixpro 03-27-09 01:30 PM

Ja, I always stop and wait for the kids to get on the bus. I hadn't thought about walking past, but that would be completely legal. I might do that next time I get stopped right when the bus stops.

I find other riders will only stop if I'm stopped. Seriously. I've seen guys ride right through the bus stop sign, but stop if someone else is there. Peer pressure, I guess.

apricissimus 03-27-09 01:32 PM


Originally Posted by hnsq (Post 8612088)
You could use the same argument to pass while driving, couldn't you?

Sounds more like a justification by an impatient person than a reason to me...

I don't think so because a bike is far more maneuverable than a car, a cyclist has far better visibility than a motorist, and a car has far more potential to injure/maim/kill than a bike.

apricissimus 03-27-09 01:33 PM

A question for people who would get off and walk:

Would you consider staying on the bike, but riding at a walking pace?

mangosalsa 03-27-09 01:44 PM


Originally Posted by apricissimus (Post 8612279)
A question for people who would get off and walk:

Would you consider staying on the bike, but riding at a walking pace?

Yes. But only in the case where the bus is in the opposite lane from mine. I may even
stay seated but push with my feet on the ground.

BroadSTPhilly 03-27-09 01:44 PM


Originally Posted by modernjess (Post 8612052)
I would never even consider it. I am a vehicle on the road. I stop and wait. My viewpoint is: I have the same rights as all vehicles, I act like vehicle, and I expect to be treated as one in return.

Many people have this perspective and I respect it. My problems with it is that whatever my expectations may be I don't get treated like a motor vehicle. I don't have the capabilities of a motor vehicle and a motor vehicle doesn't have my capabilities. I made a decision to leave my house on a me powered vehicle, a bicycle. Why would I want to act like a car?

BroadSTPhilly 03-27-09 01:45 PM


Originally Posted by mangosalsa (Post 8612374)
Yes. But only in the case where the bus is in the opposite lane from mine. I may even
stay seated but push with my feet on the ground.

You really are a boyscout.

jeffpoulin 03-27-09 02:04 PM

If you are walking your bicycle, then you are a pedestrian and you follow the laws that apply to pedestrians. Simply put, it's perfectly legal to walk your bicycle past a stopped schoolbus.

jeffpoulin 03-27-09 02:16 PM


Originally Posted by apricissimus (Post 8612279)
A question for people who would get off and walk:

Would you consider staying on the bike, but riding at a walking pace?

No, I got nailed for that once when my normal bike route was closed to just pedestrian traffic. A police officer told me I had to walk my bicycle. I straddled the bike and with one foot on the bottom pedal and one on the ground, started to push and roll the bike for the exit (note, just rolling at a walking pace, not pedaling). A few seconds later, I got tackled by two police officers who started screaming at me asking if I knew what walking my bicycle meant. I was dumbfounded because I thought I was complying with their order. They wrote me a ticket (which later got overturned in court), but it taught me a valuable lesson that walking does not equal pushing a walking pace (I suppose it also taught me to do exactly what an officer says, not what I think is okay, but that's another story... they may have won my obedience, but they lost my respect).

lapher22 03-27-09 02:25 PM


Originally Posted by BroadSTPhilly (Post 8611597)
Don't care will pass.

Well said!:thumb:

njkayaker 03-27-09 02:31 PM


Originally Posted by rumrunn6 (Post 8611002)
wondered how folks wold feel if a bicyclist got off their bike and walked past the bus then got back on and kept riding before the cars were allowed to pass. Would that be an infringement in traffic law? I don't think so.

If you are walking the bike, you are a pedestrian.


Originally Posted by enine (Post 8611187)
The bus technically has a stop sign and some states have those laws allowing bikes to carefully roll through a stop sign or red light, wonder if that applies?

No, it would not apply. Note that the school-bus-stop means do not move if the stop sign is out (it doesn't mean stop and then move if it's clear). The intent of the school-bus-stop is that you can't be "careful" enough when moving with children around.


Originally Posted by jeffpoulin (Post 8612614)
I straddled the bike and with one foot on the bottom pedal and one on the ground, started to push and roll the bike for the exit (note, just rolling at a walking pace, not pedaling).

I suspect that, legally/technically, "straddling" is not "walking the bike".


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