I know that every motorist on the road sees the big yellow cheese bus and goes 'oh geez, a bus, let me speed up and fly around it so I don't get stuck behind it'. We know you think it, because we all have thought it. Before I became a driver, I thought it. But now that I am a driver I realize that the big yellow cheese bus is not there to make me late for work, its not there to irritate me, its not there to ruin my day, its there to transport the future doctors, police officers, fire fighters and yuck, lawyers of the world to and from school and save billions of parents the world over money because they aren't burning their own precious gas trucking their children to and from school everyday.
So let me explain to you guys a few little tidbits about what those annoying flashing and yellow lights are all about and what they are truly there for. Shall we begin?
Okay, so its pretty much a general rule, in the U.S. that a school bus approaching a bus stop is going to activate their yellow (amber) lights about 300 or so feet from the bus stop. This is done for you, the motorists. Its a warning to you that we are about to stop the bus and either pick up or drop off children. Its not a a signal for you speed up, and fly around us, cut us off or beat us to the stop. Its also a pretty general assumption that most school buses will stop at the same stop, pretty much around the same exact time, every single day, without fail, give or take a minute or two. Knowing this key piece of information should help you plan your day better so you can avoid us, which I think most of you would enjoy. So say the bus is there, at the stop, every day around 7:25am....if you want to be on your merry way, be past that stop by 7:24am. We will come late sometimes but NEVER early...just so you know. Okay, so the amber lights are on, you know we are going to stop, be prepared to stop too.
Once we stop we will engage our parking break and open the door. That simple action activates the flashing red (child pick-up) lights, the little stop sign will come out and you are supposed to stop. You are SUPPOSED to STOP..preferably behind the stop sign, and in all directions. If you are at a 4 way intersection, STOP, do not turn and go about your merry way. Do not come out of your cul-de-sac in front of the bus and proceed to the main road. Do not continue to go past the stop sign. And do not think that because you are going in the opposite direction that its okay to keep going, it is not..If the stop sign is out and the red lights are flashing, STOP! The only exception is if there is a physical barrier between you and the school bus, i.e. a median on a main road (you people may continue on your way).
Those flashing red, child-pick up lights are there signal you, the motorists that children, the future of our world, are about to get on or get off the bus, in other words, there are little people out in the roadway, exposed to your vehicle and could potentially be run over if you do not STOP.
Now I know that so very many people are irritated out their minds about how long it takes for children to load and unload the bus. We apologize. But seriously in some circumstances, at least for me, if I'm loading or unloaded 68 plus children at one stop, its going to take me a little bit longer than 30 seconds to get them on the bus and settled or off the bus and far enough away from it for me to proceed on with my journey. I know that I (and my co-workers at least) train the children to empty the bus in 2 minutes or less. 2 measly minutes. That's it. You take longer than that to pump gas. Granted okay, sometimes there is a straggler, someone who dropped something or ran home at the last minute to grab something and is running for the bus, it happens. We apologize. We train the children to be at the bus stop in the morning 5 minutes before the bus is expected to be there..I think they do that as a general practice everywhere. Its done to help you, the motorists waiting behind us. If you can not wait 2 minutes for us to load or unload the bus, again, you know about what time we're going to be at the bus stop every day, just avoid us altogether and be on your way.
At some bus stops children have to cross the street, this will take an little extra time. And this is usually when you guys, the motorist, scare us, the drivers, the most. We ask for your patience in this matter. I can tell you several times when I've nearly had a heart attack because I sent my students out to cross the street and some impatient motorists lost it and slammed on the gas and flew around the stop sign and nearly ran over my children. It is nerve wrecking. It is the type of situation that bus driver nightmares are made of and it is the reason why we have the flashing red, child pick-up lights, to avoid situations like this.
So the next time you see a school bus, you see the amber lights activate and then you see the red, child pick-up lights come on and the stop sign go out please understand the following:
- We need you to stop.
- We need you to be a little bit patient.
- We need you to plan your daily trips a little bit better if you want to avoid being stuck behind us.
- And we need you to THINK.
If your child was the one getting on or off the bus, wouldn't you want the motorists in the area to care enough about your child's safety not to break the law and nearly run him/her over?
Oh and in most states in the US even if you don't see the cameras mounted on the bus, the drivers do take down your tag number, your car description, a description of you and we forward it to the police and, at least in my state, you will receive a very lovely $750 fine in the mail. The economy is bad enough, no one can afford one of those babies. So please slow down, stop and wait.
Thank you
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