Back To School: Sharing The Road With Buses

It’s that time of the year again – back to school! All the teenagers are heading back to their regularly scheduled classes (a little reluctantly, probably, for most of them), and that can only mean one thing: we have to share the road with buses once again. Now, personally, I don’t mind sharing the road with them; every now and then you get behind a bus full of particularly snarky and goofy kids who just want to elicit a reaction out of the person driving behind them, so you get some pretty hilarious exchanges when that happens. For some people, though, sharing the road with these adolescent transport devices is bothersome, and some people just don’t know the etiquette that comes along with it. That’s why we’re here to help.

Do Not Pass

If you’re driving down the road, and you find yourself faced with a bus full of children that’s stopped to load or unload – you’ll know this is happening because their ‘STOP’ sign should be out, but another indicator is that there are kids walking through the road – kids, you should never, ever attempt to pass them. Seriously, just wait. If you still don’t think you have the patience to do so, it may help you to know that it’s actually illegal in all 50 states to pass a bus that is stopped for this reason. Boom. Nobody likes tickets or jail.

Lights

You may have noticed that school buses are equipped with flashing lights which mean different things. Yellow flashing lights are used to indicate to motorists on both sides of the road that they are preparing to come to a stop. Red flashing lights with an extended ‘STOP’ sign indicates that traffic moving in both directions must come to a full and complete stop, and may not pass for any reason until the sign has been retracted. Again – it’s illegal if you do, so don’t even try.

Prepare To Stop…A Lot

Because they have many stops to hit on their journey to pick up or drop off kids in the early hours of the morning and late afternoon, buses stop many times throughout their route. This means that, if you’re behind them, you’ll stop a lot too, so be prepared for that. Take extra time and caution when following them, and be sure not to follow too closely to avoid accidents or provoking the mischievous school children.

On that same note, it’s also helpful to keep in mind that buses often have to pick children up in the dark hours of the early morning, especially during the winter months, so be sure to keep a careful and watchful eye out for any children near the road waiting on the bus to arrive.

Be Defensive, Not Aggressive

School buses, statistically, have fewer accidents than normal vehicles, due to the driver’s extensive training in defensive driving. Because of this, it is up to you to anticipate dangerous situations, stops, and the mistakes of other drivers around you when you’re driving near them, or with children of your own in the vehicle. Remember – defensive driving techniques only work well if everyone adheres to them, and your patience and defensive driving maneuvers will ensure that everyone gets to their destination safely.

Keep A Safe Distance

As mentioned before, not following too closely to a school bus will allow for extra protection to avoid accidents on the road. The recommended distance to keep between your vehicle and the school bus is 10 feet, at all times, to allow for stops in all weather conditions – including clear skies. It allows you to anticipate stops quickly and with clarity, and allows you to anticipate anything else that may go wrong with you or any other driver, and react accordingly.

Consider The Blind Spot

Think of a bus as a smaller transfer truck full of children for this scenario. Because the vehicle is long and larger than normal, and though they have large mirrors, they still have even larger blind spots. Even if you can see their mirrors clearly, they may not be able to see you clearly, so this goes into giving them a little extra room. Slow down and allow the bus to change lanes if they begin to flash their blinkers, and keep a good distance away to allow for reaction time to these types of signals.

Children Are Unpredictable

This is especially true for smaller children, but teenagers can be a bit guilty of this as well. Recognize the fact that children are unpredictable and may not completely understand (or care, for the teens) the safety concerns associated with being dropped off and picked up next to the road; maybe they’ve dropped something and stopped to pick it up, maybe they are excited and running around near the stop – you just never know what’s going to happen. Because of this, it’s crucial that you keep a careful lookout before beginning to proceed behind a school bus, and don’t just speed off; start at a low speed so you can anticipate anything, and then proceed as normal once you’re out of the ‘danger zone.’