rumrunn6

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

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

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

enine

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

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

Or ......




Walking by the bus is legal.

uke

Walking is legal. Cycling or driving is not.

BroadSTPhilly

Don't care will pass.

anastrophe

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?

apricissimus 

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

Unless you maybe assumed he rides blindfolded....

ItsJustMe

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

Thanks for covering that for me.

CommuterRun

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

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

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

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 

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 

A question for people who would get off and walk:

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

mangosalsa

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

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

You really are a boyscout.

jeffpoulin

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

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

Well said!

njkayaker

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

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.

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