I was on Avent Ferry, right before the Centennial stop light and a bus is stopped in the lane heading away from campus. Well I'm in a lane heading towards campus and this lady in front of me slams on breaks to stop for the school bus. I blow the horn and point my finger to tell her to keep going. She doesn't. I'm not really in a hurry, I just don't like to slam on my breaks if I can help it. So she gets in the right lane and the Centennial stoplight and rolls down her window to talk to me. She says "Do you know what a stop sign on a stopped school bus means?!" I say, "Yea, we don't have to stop if there's a center turn lane though." She goes "Yes you do!" I replied with a "Uhhh, no you don't." She got all bitchy and said, "Well I'm going to stop anyways!".

As long as I've remembered it, you don't have to stop for a school bus if you're separated by a center turn lane.

Wa-BAM! http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/driver_services/drivershandbook/chapter4/generalDriving.html (Look at the pictures at the bottom)

I win this one, old woman.

12/12/2007 8:48:03 AM

this happens all the time. people give me evil looks b/c i never stop

12/12/2007 8:50:13 AM

i usually stop, but then again, it was because i didnt remember the rules.


thx for the refresher

12/12/2007 8:52:48 AM

i tend to stop, b/c (a) kids are retards and i'm not going to hit one that comes dancing out into traffic, center lane or no
and (b) even if you're technically allowed to do it, i still see a good shot of a cop pulling you over, even if just to hassle you

12/12/2007 8:52:54 AM

if other people stop, its just safe practice, like ^ said, kids are retards
but of course you dont have to.

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 8:58 AM. Reason : ]

12/12/2007 8:57:14 AM

i got a friend in the local sheriff's office who just follows a school bus in his personal car every morning to help his ticket quota

12/12/2007 9:03:19 AM

I stop because it is safer for the children. I know I don't have to, but enough people do it so that it is almost expected. It doesn't hurt anybody for me to do so either.

12/12/2007 9:04:24 AM

I tend to stop as well because you never know when a kid may live on the other side of the road and may be running a minute late and comes darting across the road in front of you. Better safe than sorry. All it will take is one accident like this before the law is changed anyway.

^^ But haven't we heard numerous times that there is no such thing as a ticket quota?

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 9:06 AM. Reason : ]

12/12/2007 9:05:46 AM

i've never seen the kids actually cross the street in that situation, i think the bus drivers let them off on the appropriate side

12/12/2007 9:06:23 AM

Quote :

"But haven't we heard numerous times that there is no such thing as a ticket quota?"

of course there isnt

its not really a stated amount, you just dont want to be way behind the average for the month

12/12/2007 9:07:39 AM

I used to ride a bus, and usually they just make one pass down roads. So, if you live on the odd numbered side and the stop is on the even side of the road, you have to get off anyway. Maybe its different in the big ol' city!

12/12/2007 9:07:56 AM

My dad and I were in a car accident once because the woman in front of him stopped, so he stopped, but the guy behind us didn't stop.

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 9:08 AM. Reason : Actually, I think there may even have been a median]

12/12/2007 9:08:34 AM

I always thought you didn't have to stop if it was a divided road (if there was a median), but you had to every other time.

12/12/2007 9:16:26 AM

if there is a road with a center turn lane a bus won't drop kids off and let them cross that lane

it would drop kids off for one side of the road and then turn around somewhere and drop kids off for the other side. that's why you don't have to stop if there's a turn lane, there will never (theoretically) be kids getting off the bus and crossing in front of you

12/12/2007 9:21:43 AM

Quote :

"this lady"

well there's your problem

12/12/2007 9:22:11 AM

OBLIGATORY: WHO LET HER OUT OF THE KITCHEN

12/12/2007 9:23:25 AM

Here's a question then:

Are you allowed to pass a moving schoolbus on a dotted yellow 2-lane road? I don't see ANY reason why you would not be allowed to do so, but seems like everyone I ask says that you can't

12/12/2007 9:27:00 AM

if it's stopped, no.
if it's rolling, yes.

12/12/2007 9:28:39 AM

^^do it and see what happens

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 9:28 AM. Reason : ^]

12/12/2007 9:28:42 AM

My mom is a school bus driver, I asked her, she said no you do not...you only have to stop if the road is a two lane road. If there is a center turning lane you do not have to stop.

^^^as long as it's not coming to a stop, for example their lights are flashing and they're slowing down while the stop sign is coming out and that crossing bar is moving...

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 9:54 AM. Reason : ]

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 9:54 AM. Reason : ]

12/12/2007 9:53:24 AM

yeah, i thought if there was a median they had to let kids off on the correct side of the road, i.e they can't be expected to cross the street. maybe i'm wrong, but that's what i had always thought as the reason behind you not having to stop if there was a median/center lane

12/12/2007 9:59:27 AM

Interesting note from the link. If a BLIND PEDESTRIAN APPROACHES AN INTERSECTION, ALL TRAFFIC IS REQUIRED TO STOP!

A blind pedestrian is anyone carrying a white cane, carrying a white cane with a red tip, or led by a guide dog. (so not necessarily visually impaired at all)

12/12/2007 10:04:46 AM

yeah, blind people know better than to expect that to really happen

12/12/2007 10:05:53 AM

Quote :

"i've never seen the kids actually cross the street in that situation, i think the bus drivers let them off on the appropriate side"

Quote :

"if there is a road with a center turn lane a bus won't drop kids off and let them cross that lane"

Exactly. They have the bus routes set up so that the children do not have to cross the entire 5 or more lane highway.

12/12/2007 10:11:10 AM

so what happens if it's a 2 lane road + turning lane?

I know it sounds retarded, but I live in a retarded city (asheboro).

12/12/2007 10:17:40 AM

blow your horn just in case

12/12/2007 10:18:24 AM

12/12/2007 10:21:05 AM

It's got to be a divided highway.

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 10:22 AM. Reason : divided by median or center lane]

12/12/2007 10:22:14 AM

Quote :

"I know it sounds retarded, but I live in a retarded city (asheboro)."

amen

12/12/2007 10:22:18 AM

google image search old lady driving

you get some funny stories with the pictures


such as the old lady driving her wheelchair onto the autobahn

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 10:24 AM. Reason : ha]

12/12/2007 10:23:45 AM

i don't stop. darwin ftw

12/12/2007 10:26:25 AM

^lol

12/12/2007 10:28:07 AM

Those of you who stop when you shouldn't, should get off the damn road. The laws in place are there for a reason. And buses don't drop off kids that have to cross over a 4 lane hwy with a center lane/median. That's against the law, unless there is a crosswalk very close by.

12/12/2007 10:51:58 AM

^exactly. if he doesn't know which side of the road his house is on by kindergarten i want him out of the gene pool.

12/12/2007 10:53:27 AM

funny, i don't remember that statute...

12/12/2007 10:54:08 AM

^^lolz. agreed

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 10:54 AM. Reason : ^]

^i believe it is. if not, that's how things were where I went to school. but I'm pretty sure a kid can't be dropped off and expected to cross such a road, hence oncoming traffic on those roads don't have to stop

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 10:56 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 10:56 AM. Reason : .]

12/12/2007 10:54:09 AM

I've never seen a kid cross anything more than this:


much less something with multilanes.

12/12/2007 11:11:29 AM

BUT WHAT IF if the bus is on a large conveyor belt matching the speed opposite the wheels, will it take off ???

12/12/2007 11:20:32 AM

^or will the stop sign come out and the doors open?

12/12/2007 11:22:36 AM

I say lets bring back natural selection. The kids that adapt best to having to dodge the passing cars are the most fit to reproduce.

12/12/2007 11:30:30 AM

evolution is accelerating--don't you read bbc?

12/12/2007 11:32:10 AM

12/12/2007 11:35:27 AM