#$%^ing School Bus!

[IronBeard]

Update: Biker killed in school bus crash on Highway 98 is AFSOC Airman

Like many of you I drive 98 morning and afternoon. I can't say for certain the bus driver was at fault, but I have had numerous encounters throughout every school year I've driven this road where school buses pull into traffic or stop in a crossover with half the bus protruding into the left lane of the highway! Apparently school bus drivers are never wrong 'cause, the children. Apparently law enforcement never sees what I do. Most of this probably happens during shift changes. It's the highway patrol's problem....

 

[Welldoya]

I always give school buses a wide berth and great courtesy. It’s hard enough navigating these congested roads in the morning in a car, I can’t imagine operating a school bus.
I don’t know the circumstances of this accident but I’ve seen young guys on those high revving Japanese bikes do a lot more stupid things than I’ve seen school bus drivers do.
Just my personal observations.

 

[Viking1204]

Most school buses I've seen out on the road drive like assholes cutting people off and blocking traffic just to get their way. No excuse for not seeing the biker and waiting, bus drivers have an elevated view and shouldn't have a problem seeing properly before pulling out but yet I see them pull out into a median blocking a lane where traffic was coming up pretty fast expecting the traffic to slam on the brakes. Just makes you wonder how many rear end crashes on the highway are a result of a school bus bottling up traffic and then pulling away.

 

[IronBeard]

I will freely admit there are 1-2 bikers on my daily route who are either really good, or just don't care for life. If that was one of 'em, well... I have encountered/seen way more dangerous/questionable conduct by school bus drivers.

To Viking1204's points, it is my personal opinion, based on my experiences, that school bus drivers drive as if they are immune from the law, physics, or just courteous driving. Maybe they are, unofficially. FWIW, I've seen similar conduct in other states, so can't fathom it's just happening along my travel route.

I'm certain that if a concrete/dump truck did some of the things I see done with a school bus, they'd at least be cited, maybe lose their CDL. Yes, even contacted more than one school district; we'll look into it. If anyone is getting fired, they're hiring replacements that drive the same way.

 

[JedClpIT]

They/WE are way behind on school bus drivers. I believe over a hundred openings across the four counties. I'm sure the school boards feel lucky to have the ones driving now. That may play into it somewhere down the line, but we should uphold the law regardless. Realistically, follow the money. You can sue a dumptruck, concrete, crane, tractor trailer company that makes profit $. But it is hard to get blood out of a turnip. The whole freedom ride is a double edged sword too. Mistakes are more costly regardless of who is at fault. You decide.

Secondary issue: Why so few school bus drivers?- "OUR" kids are mini "Richard craniums" and "Miss Beoches" these days, that no one wants to deal with. How does this affect the driving and quality of drivers? Well, I really don't know, but I think it is in there somewhere.

 

[Welldoya]

Think about the chances you sometimes hafta take to get out on a busy road in a car. Now imagine trying to maneuver a bus. I wouldn’t want to do it.

 

[ratio411]

I can't say for certain the bus driver was at fault

The article says the bus pulled into the bikes path from a side road, so you can be fairly sure.

 

[RackinRay]

I would not want to drive one. Had one this afternoon signal a left turn off Bellview, and I pulled off to turn left in front of it to go west on Bellview. I would have never trusted a signal from a POV that way.

 

[RHINOWSO]

The biker made the choice to use a vehicle with a much lower chance of survival in an accident.

Also a much harder vehicle to see, being much smaller than a car.

With the amount of distracted drivers these days, no way I'd get on a bike the way traffic - getting cut off, etc is par for the course.

But loud pipes and all...

 

[RackinRay]

I would not want to drive one. Had one this afternoon signal a left turn off Bellview, and I pulled off to turn left in front of it to go west on Bellview. I would have never trusted a signal from a POV that way.

Edit: I think this is part of the epidemic of people violating lane right of way to go where they want. I have seen MANY POV operators violate right of way to move forward. Pisses me off every time!

 

[JedClpIT]

Saddest of all, a public servant of one of the highest orders, lost their life in a crash with a school bus; piloted by a public servant of a different order... Damn the luck.

 

[MarkS]

Had a bus driver run a stop sign and then blow the horn like I was at fault even though I had to stop to keep from getting hit by the bus

 

[IronBeard]

Think about the chances you sometimes hafta take to get out on a busy road in a car. Now imagine trying to maneuver a bus. I wouldn’t want to do it.

Thanks for that; quite applicable. Respectfully:

If you are entering a roadway from a side street that has no traffic signal/green light (as the bus did), you do not have the right of way. Not having the right of way, and having (I assume) stopped at a stop sign, you must yield to traffic that does. Further, just because you stopped (maybe) at a stop sign, does not mean you are entitled to immediately go without a care. Once stopped at the sign, you are obligated to look twice (motorcycles), and determine/comprehend both the closing rate of traffic that has the right of way, and the ability of you and the vehicle you are operating to safely execute the move you are considering, not just do it. This ain't Nike. Any driver that cannot consistently and safely accomplish such feats, should not be driving, self included.

No one on my morning/afternoon drive HAS to take a chance. No one is holding a gun to their head, or threatening family members, and forcing them to take a chance. IMO, any driver "taking a chance" has made a conscious decision to place themselves before all others. They have deemed themselves more important than all other drivers and that the laws so many profess to honor/value/worship do not apply to them. That, IMO, is willful endangerment, bordering on assault with a vehicle, and proportionate response is justified, IMO.

I am one of the most Liberty-minded people you will ever encounter, but I take threats on my life/well-being quite seriously. BS driving is such a threat, IMO. Same as pointing gun at me, IMO. If I witness anyone "taking a chance" that results in a wreck (not an accident, IMO) I will be the first to pull over, and I will be first in the Trooper's face to let he/she know how you wilfully %^&*ed up and caused the wreck. Promise. Done it before and will continue to do so.

 

[Viking1204]

Yesterday the light I was at turned green but I couldn't go because a big yellow school bus ran the light and was sideways making a left turn in front of me.

 

[IronBeard]

The article says the bus pulled into the bikes path from a side road, so you can be fairly sure.

Yes, I am fairly sure. However, being consistently admonished by "authorities" that I wasn't there so I can't/don't know all the facts, and should wait until "authorities" tell me what the facts are, I now default to giving 'em enough rope for a good hanging. I'm also pretty sure "authorities" know exactly what's going down with school bus drivers because I see 'em out there on the road with me. They either aren't very observant, or just aren't going to do a thing about it.

 

[IronBeard]

The biker made the choice to use a vehicle with a much lower chance of survival in an accident.

Also a much harder vehicle to see, being much smaller than a car.

With the amount of distracted drivers these days, no way I'd get on a bike the way traffic - getting cut off, etc is par for the course.

But loud pipes and all...

^^^ Why I gave up bikes and drive a full size truck. Survivability. It matters.

 

[IronBeard]

Yesterday the light I was at turned green but I couldn't go because a big yellow school bus ran the light and was sideways making a left turn in front of me.

More than once I have stopped, as we are supposed to, for a bus with flashing red lights, and then forced to sit while the bus sat there, red lights still flashing, with driver waving another bus/(es) onto the road. HTF is that legal?! The fact that others encounter this pretty much eliminates the possibility I'm imagining/hallucinating.

 

[RHINOWSO]

Yesterday the light I was at turned green but I couldn't go because a big yellow school bus ran the light and was sideways making a left turn in front of me.

Like 90% of the population these days...

I saw a semi pulling through the intersection like that (they had a Green and a Green Arrow while opposite direction traffic was Red). The truck started to get held up in the intersection, so the trailer was blocking both lanes of traffic but slowly clearing when it turned Green for us. The left lane was mostly clear...

I was one car back in the left lane and watched as the first car in the right lane saw green and accelerated straight ahead.... INTO the semi trailer, without braking at all. It wasn't going super fast but at least 20 MPH when it hit, right to 0MPH. The person was either brain dead, high, or texting.

IDGAF, things happens and the law of GROSS TONNAGE always applies. You might be "right" but being "Right and Dead" means you are still "Dead".

 

[ratio411]

More than once I have stopped, as we are supposed to, for a bus with flashing red lights, and then forced to sit while the bus sat there, red lights still flashing, with driver waving another bus/(es) onto the road. HTF is that legal?! The fact that others encounter this pretty much eliminates the possibility I'm imagining/hallucinating.

I love when they have the highway blocked up with red lights, but the kids are long gone and they are now just shooting the bull with a random adult.

 

[IronBeard]

I love when they have the highway blocked up with red lights, but the kids are long gone and they are now just shooting the bull with a random adult.

I don't see it here in Santa Rosa, but when I lived in Okaloosa County, buses routinely sat there running the red lights until the kids were met by someone, or in their house.