School buses & their stop indicators

[HanSolo]

BC MVA

Meeting school bus

149 The driver of a vehicle on a highway, on meeting or overtaking a school bus

(a) that is designated as a school bus,

(b) that is stopped on a highway, and

(c) on or near which a sign or signal is displayed indicating the school bus is receiving or discharging school children,

must stop the vehicle before reaching the bus and not proceed until the bus resumes motion or the driver of the bus signals to other drivers that it is safe to proceed.

I understood that a school bus that was stopped and loading or unloading children was supposed to use its flashing red stop lights and stop sign arm. BC MVA section 149.c states you must stop for a bus 'on or near which a sign or signal is displayed indicating the school bus is receiving or discharging school children'. I understood this to mean school buses must display their stop lights / stop arm if they want you to stop... or is this incorrect?

[Bsuds]

That would be correct and if a bus is not doing that it should be reported.

[HanSolo]

Thanks, that's what I thought. The driver gave me a blast with her horn as I drove past going the opposite direction at about 10km/hr so I slammed on my brakes. There were no kids on the road. I'll call the school district then.

[Bsuds]

If the lights aren't flashing then how are you supposed to know to stop?
Hopefully you got the bus number as well.

[gardengirl]

I have had that exact same experience. I phoned SD 23 to report the bus and discovered that it was not one of theirs.
There are many Private school buses in town which are operated by a company in Vancouver. When I finally tracked them down to report the incident, I was told they do not require their drivers to operate the lights and STOP arm when dropping off children.

Really!!! I have also observed those same buses speeding, even through school zones, changing lanes without signalling and a variety of other traffic infractions. I don't know what criteria they use when hiring drivers, but I have seen some very disturbing things.

[GordonH]

I have had that exact same experience. I phoned SD 23 to report the bus and discovered that it was not one of theirs.
There are many Private school buses in town which are operated by a company in Vancouver. When I finally tracked them down to report the incident, I was told they do not require their drivers to operate the lights and STOP arm when dropping off children.

Really!!! I have also observed those same buses speeding, even through school zones, changing lanes without signalling and a variety of other traffic infractions. I don't know what criteria they use when hiring drivers, but I have seen some very disturbing things.

I'm sure the parents of the kids that ride these privately operated school buses would like to know what these drivers are doing.
Since the company operating does not know or give a damn, if I was you gardengirl report it to RCMP.

[Fancy]

Drivers must stop for school buses with flashing lights whether approaching from the front or rear. The vehicle may not proceed until the school bus moves on or the driver turns off the lights or pulls in the stop sign.

http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/laws/school-buses/
I find it disturbing that a bus would not activate the flashing lights - I would not stop either as the driver may be just sitting there killing time for a few minutes. The onus is also on the driver to protect the children.

[Dizzy1]

You'll see this a lot in rural areas, where a school bus will drop off/pick up kids at their driveway, so there are no kids crossing the roads, so the driver will only use their signal light or 4ways, which gives other cars the right to pass, albeit with caution.

[Dizzy1]

Not to derail the thread, but it does bring up another interesting scenario, transit buses. If a transit bus is at a stop loading and unloading, we drivers don't have to stop (we only have to yield when the bus is pulling out back into traffic). Anyway, you'll see lots of kids getting off the bus, dart out infront of the bus and into traffic ... very scary. A friend of mine drives for the School District and his theory is that we teach kids for years that when they get off a bus, traffic is required to stop for the bus so the kids can cross the road so the kids seem to take this with them when getting off transit buses.

[drex1999]

I followed a school bus over Dilworth a few weeks ago. At the top, it put a turn signal on and pulled over to the side of the road. I stopped but no stop sign flashers came out so I thought it was an empty bus pulling over to wait or something so I then drove past it and then saw in my mirror kids getting off it. I was embarrassed to have passed a bus unloading kids but also confused why it had no warning flashers.

[grammafreddy]

I have had that exact same experience. I phoned SD 23 to report the bus and discovered that it was not one of theirs.
There are many Private school buses in town which are operated by a company in Vancouver. When I finally tracked them down to report the incident, I was told they do not require their drivers to operate the lights and STOP arm when dropping off children.

Really!!! I have also observed those same buses speeding, even through school zones, changing lanes without signalling and a variety of other traffic infractions. I don't know what criteria they use when hiring drivers, but I have seen some very disturbing things.

Did you happen to ask why a private company out of Vancouver was running school buses in Kelowna?

[36Drew]

That would be correct and if a bus is not doing that it should be reported.

Actually, that would be incorrect. A School Bus operator is not required by any federal or provincial law to activate the stop lights or blade. The use of those lights are governed entirely by the operator. I know that SD23 doesn't use them 100% of the time. Down here (Vancouver/Coquitlam/Poco/Moody/Burnaby/New West), the school transit is all operated by private operators under contract to the schools. The cities have all requested that the stop signs and lights not be used unless absolutely necessary as they're more concerned about rush-hour traffic being held up.

The MVA, as I said, does not dictate that the operator use the lights. It does dictate that if the lights are used, other drivers need to stop.

GF - as for your question about private operators operating in Kelowna: Because there's a market there for it. They don't provide morning/afternoon pickup for the public schools - but they do some private schools. They also provide transportation for "private charters" (field trips, band trips, sports events - even berry pickers).

[Dizzy1]

A School Bus operator is not required by any federal or provincial law to activate the stop lights or blade. The use of those lights are governed entirely by the operator. I know that SD23 doesn't use them 100% of the time. Down here (Vancouver/Coquitlam/Poco/Moody/Burnaby/New West), the school transit is all operated by private operators under contract to the schools. The cities have all requested that the stop signs and lights not be used unless absolutely necessary as they're more concerned about rush-hour traffic being held up.

The MVA, as I said, does not dictate that the operator use the lights. It does dictate that if the lights are used, other drivers need to stop.

Thats correct, as I posted earlier, you see this quite often in rural areas.

GF - as for your question about private operators operating in Kelowna: Because there's a market there for it. They don't provide morning/afternoon pickup for the public schools - but they do some private schools. They also provide transportation for "private charters" (field trips, band trips, sports events - even berry pickers).

If I'm not mistaken, its the same company that operates a bus from Vernon to Kelowna for one of the private schools down there as well as a daycare facility in Vernon.

[mexi cali]

The problem then can be that a bus driver who is simply pulled over waiting for whatever may wind up with a line of cars sitting behind him or her occupied by law abiding, well intentioned citizens who think that there may be kids getting on or off.

The lights and the arm are there for safety so if they are not used 100% of the time when kids are present, why have them at all?

And while there is no comparison between the lower mainland and here, I find it kind of offensive that these safety precautions are not being used in favor of not stopping traffic. Isn't that the whole idea? You know, so no kids get killed?

[36Drew]

I find it kind of offensive that these safety precautions are not being used in favor of not stopping traffic. Isn't that the whole idea? You know, so no kids get killed?

If you find it so offensive, then I invite you to call the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody to discuss the issue with them. I don't work for them, and I myself am not a bus driver. I simply relayed what my wife (who is a school bus driver) had told me regarding the stop blades. She doesn't like it either, but the customers (the school districts, who ultimately directly fund her paycheque) have made that request (not to use the stop blade and lights) of the bus operator.