Posted on 10/24/2015 11:12:27 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Our latest #Brake4Buses story focuses on a busy road in a De Pere neighborhood: the intersection of Randall Avenue and North Broadway.
Steven Lepak caught on video a driver passing a stopped school bus this week, but says it’s happening more often this year.
“The incidents aren’t as extreme as the one I caught on video, but I would say once a week or more there is some type of incident with traffic and this bus stop,” said Lepak.
As Target 2 interviewed Lepak, we caught on camera, someone else passing a stopped school bus. This time, a car stopped next to the bus at the crosswalk but still drove through — and it happened in front of a De Pere police officer.
(Excerpt) Read more at wbay.com ...
I wish them, and all with them, luck.
I believe that is a law that they must adhere to. Most states have it. If not, there are bus company regulations that require them to do so.
WOW! Frustration with having to wait five minutes while a bus loads kids! Here’s a thought. If you know there is a school and you don’t want to wait, FIND ANOTHER ROUTE TO YOUR DESTINATION! It ain’t rocket science! If you have to go that route and you know there is a school, LEAVE EARLIER! Again, not rocket science! You suggest that a driver leave before all kids are seated. In most jurisdictions, that is against the law! Even if not, chances are that YOU would get called out even more because of injuries sustained by kids falling on the bus, if buses left before all passengers were seated. Imagine the ADDITIONAL lawsuits for the school bus company AND fire department! Petion your city or State reps to change the law! That is what happened here.
With 500 routes in this city for this company, we have at least one ‘code red’ (accident) every couple of days. The vast majority are fender benders (at least for the bus). A safety officer comes out, as do police. If there are no injuries to students, they get transfered onto a rescue bus. All kids are given notes to their parents detailing the accident. I am unaware of there being a student injury due to an accident in several years. Two weeks ago however, a bus was hit by a driver who ran a red light. His car was totalled and our driver had lacerations but no student was injured.
You mention transporting many kids to hospital for checkups after accidents. Remember, the US has been litigation crazy for decades! Canada, not so much. Remember the woman who wone millions from McDonald’s for injuries due to burns from hot coffee? Nothing similar in Canada. While the courts here do lean left, they don’t tend to try to ‘punish’ big companies like many lefty judges in the US do. Generally, we have far fewer ‘ambulance chasers’ like Silky Pony than the US. Damage awards in Canada do not include ‘punitive’ damages, so litigated awards are much lower resulting in fewer lawsuits.
AFA pulling off the road to pick up (and drop off) kids, in Calgary, the school boards determine pick up locations for the big buses, often at city transit stops. I can’t speak to rural pickups, as I’ve never done any. For the ‘special needs’ routes, it is essentially ‘door to door’. In my case, there is a little more flexibility, as none of my ‘kids’ are physically disabled and almost all are not severely handicapped in other ways. One stop required me to double park in front of a daycare on a busy thoroughfare just after 4:00PM. People picking up their kids from the daycare do not look to see a child getting on or off a bus, so I was able to change the STOP so that I could pull in. The child has to walk approximately five doors down the street, but it is safer for all.
In most jurisdictions, stopping at RR crossings, ANY RR crossings, is the LAW, as is having the eight way flashers and stop sign engaged while loading and unloading children from the school bus. Instead of complaining about drivers OBEYING the law, petition your legislators to CHANGE THE LAWS!
Are there a***ole school bus drivers out there who should not be driving? YES! Are there a***ole car drivers out there who should not be driving? YES! Are there a***hole truck drivers out there who should not be driving? YES! Sometimes, there are even a***hole cops, ambulance and yes, even FIRE TRUCK drivers out there who should not be driving! Get over it!
“I must say that people here in NJ are pretty religious about stopping for the school buses.”
They remember what happened to the guy who killed a Mafioso’s kid on a bike.
Wasn’t that Gotti’s kid in Queens, NY?
That’s what I was thinking but I wasn’t sure. Supposedly the kid rode out in front of him on a bike, nothing the guy could do. Some time later a few of Gotti’s underlings acting on their own initiative whacked the guy.
Yes, my impression is that’s a true story, but I don’t know for sure.
You are the one that needs to get over yourself. And also you are twisting my words.
I have not ever suggested in my life that a school bus should start moving before the children have taken their seats... I suggested that the traffic on the opposite side of the street should be allowed to start moving when all of the children have finished boarding. I repeated this specifically for you and yet you insist on making a ridiculous straw man argument. You really love the control that stop sign gives you... don’t you.
I have also stated that it is dangerous nonsense for buses to stop on a divided highway for a diagonal rail spur that is only occasionally used for dropping off and picking up rail cars. I have said this because as a fire lieutenant I went to literally dozens of serious motor vehicle accidents caused by this exact stupidity. And as a fire lieutenant I expressed my concerns to my superiors and the appropriate authorities including the police and the bus company. The police and my superiors agreed but I with the bus company I ran into the same inflexible BS that you are peddling.
The scenario that played out over and over is a school bus was sitting in the middle of a busy divided highway where the speed limit is 60 mph. Most of the time other vehicles were stopped behind the bus and a car or truck plowed into these other vehicles. You can call it stupid if you like for people to be cruising along open highway and not notice in time that other vehicles have stopped. Either way it caused many accidents and numerous serious injuries.
My sister who started out as a school bus driver has worked for many years as a safety officer for our local transit authority and she agreed with me 100% about the hazard caused by the specific railroad spurs that I have referred to here. And as I told you I have a bus driving endorsement on my commercial driving license. So I have experienced both sides of this.
You have demonstrated the typical arrogance that one finds when someone is given some type of authority over others and really enjoys using their power a lot. I have worked with many such people over the years and always find them very annoying. I am retired and am generally not in a hurry to anywhere. This isn’t about planning and leaving early because there are school buses on the road; it is strictly an argument about people being inconvenienced and in some cases put in danger for little to no reason.
One other thing that has always bothered me about school bus drivers that some people are not aware of. Every school bus driver I know collects unemployment benefits every summer. Most of them also work under the table each summer while collecting their unemployment. Something about that doesn’t seem right to me. But I am sure that you feel differently.
In your SECOND post you start by writing, "If you can’t understand the frustration of waiting across the street from a school bus on a busy street because the driver won’t put his stop sign in until every child is seated then I think that you are the one who is stupid.". (In both quotes, the emphasis is mine.)
Now, where do you suppose I would have got the idea that you wanted bus drivers to leave BEFORE the kids were all seated? Well, DUH! (BTW, the 'The Stupid, It Burns' graphic was aimed at those who fail to see buses and stop for them, not at you.)
I thank you for your service to your community. It sounds like you have had a long career with your local fire department and I know that such a job can take a heavy toll on body and mind. I understand that the inhalation of certain chemicals emited during fires can affect higher brain function, so I'll repeat again, for your benefit, that it is AGAINST THE LAW for me to use the eight-way lights and stop sign in the city. I mentioned that in the FIRST SENTENCE of my first response to you! ("As a school bus driver in Calgary, because of bylaws, we do not use the eight way flashers or bus-mounted stop signs.") Guess you are REALLY butt-hurt that, "...the control that stop sign gives you..." actually gives me NO CONTROL as I do not use it! It seems to me, that YOU are the one who is the control freak, definitely missing the ability to order men into burning buildings. Perhaps it is a blessing for many that you've retired!
AFA collecting 'pogey' benefits (a Lieberal politician changed it from 'unemployment insurance' to 'employment insurance' in Canada about 15 years ago), no, though entitled to it, I did not. I drive a 'year round' school route, so the kids only get five weeks in the summer, so it made no sense to apply and receive one week of benefits. The same snide, innuendo filled comments about bus drivers drawing UI could be used about retirees who are able to work, but choose to instead, take government handouts (aka pensions). The point is, employees pay into UI and government pension plans (in Canada it is the CPP and OAS, don'know what it is in the US). Employees are also ENTITLED to benefits from these insurance/pension plans. AFA 'working under the table' while receiving benefits? I hope the UI regulators busts them and they lose their benefits and are heavily fined. By the same token, we see the dishonest nature of so many politicians, is it any wonder so many do cheat!
The bottom line is, bus drivers, in general, are just OBEYING THE LAW! If you want things changed, CHANGE THE LAW! You're retired, you have experience with traffic, buses, law enforcement (in an indirect way), so DO SOMETHING! Laws can get changed through grassroots efforts. You're retired and should have lots of time, so START A PETITION and gather signatures to have the law changed! Don't bark at me about things I have no control over, or suggest things about my character that you know nothing about. You want the law changed! Then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
I am at a complete loss! It is as if we are speaking two different languages. I will state it a third time for you. Read every word slowly and then let the sentence sink in. Their are school bus drivers who sometimes leave their stop signs out preventing for excessive amounts of time AFTER every child has boarded the bus. This prevents traffic in other lanes on busy highways from moving. Once the children have all boarded the bus there is NO REASON for traffic not behind the bus to have to keep waiting. For you I will repeat the statement... Once all the children have boarded the bus there is NO REASON that traffic not behind the bus should have to keep waiting. OBVIUSLY, the bus should not begin to move until all of the children are in their seats, but the stop sign can come in. You are an obstinate fool to insist that traffic in ALL LANES must be kept waiting until all the children are seated.
I went to many serious motor vehicle accidents where a school bus drivers repeatedly stop traffic where a seldom used railroad spur crossed a busy highway at an angle into a business’s loading yard. School buses stop, put their stop signs out and wait for a period of time for these unused rail sidings. Until the brush grew up... even cars on the opposite side of this divided highway would sometimes stop when they saw the bus with its flashers and stop sign out. The highway in question goes through an industrial area where there are NO CHILDREN. The only cars that should have to stop are the ones directly behind the bus. The siding where I went to the most accidents was on a gentle curve that limited the distance that drivers could see this hazard developing.
From my observation of the nonsensical safety hazard caused by this practice you have drawn all sorts of conclusions about my patience, my exposure to hazardous chemicals that has affected my intelligence and your cartoon which was captioned, “The Stupid, It Burns!” It seems that you are a dedicated student of Alinsky.
You are the one who seemingly cannot understand the concept that the flashers and the stop sign do not have to continue to be out and on after all the kids are on the bus. On buses that I have driven the brakes are independent from the stop sign and flashers, yet this concept seems impossible for you to comprehend. Quoting you, “The Stupid, It Burns!”
Please excuse the typos in my previous post.
Oh, and I am sorry that I did not acknowledge that for some reason in Calgary they do not let you use the mounted stop sign on your school bus. It must seem very unfair to you. There use might have been taken away at least partially for reasons that I have mentioned... Specifically, drivers causing confusion and life hazards on a multiple lane highway where the speed limit is 60 mph... by stopping traffic in both directions for an unused rail spur into a defunct business.
Are you denying that you wrote what I quoted?
If so, there is nothing left to discuss. Ask Nurse Ratched for your apple juice and cookie.
If you are not denying it, why did you not express yourself more clearly in your post? I do not read minds, and in the case of your mind, I thank God for that!
When you state, “I am at a complete loss!”, on that one thing we can almost agree... omit the word ‘at’ and we agree!
I said, “around here school bus drivers seem to take great pleasure in keeping their stop signs out for extraordinary lengths of time until every kid in the bus has sat back down.”
And I said, “If you can’t understand the frustration of waiting across the street from a school bus on a busy street because the driver won’t put his stop sign in until every child is seated then I think that you are the one who is stupid.”
I certainly never said that the driver should start moving before the kids have sat down. My objection is that where we live the drivers continue to hold up traffic in ALL LANES with their stop signs after all the children have got on the bus, sometimes for excessive amounts of time. After the last kid has gotten on the bus, the door should be closed, the stop sign holding up traffic in other lanes should come in and the driver should wait to move the bus until after all the children have taken their seats.
Can I be any more specific than that? Do we actually have a disagreement? I understand how this works because I have a bus driver endorsement on my CDL have driven and even owned a school bus with a stop sign for several years. If you don't believe me I can email you pictures.
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