When to Stop for a School Bus...

I'm a school bus driver.. 

I haven't happen to me yet, but there are some assclowns who don't understand that when we have our stop sign out and the lights flashing that means traffic STOPS...

That said, I've had people stop when I have my hazard lights going.. I've had people stop when I've been pulled over to the side of the road with my turn signal on.. I've had people in the oncoming lane slam on their brakes when I have my inner flashing lights going, then flip me off when I coast past them... 

So I think it's time to do a little educating... 

Now first a little jargon... 

The lights on the top portion of the bus are called Alternating Lights. We have two sets for the most part now.. An inner set and an outer set..

I know here in Ontario, both sets are red.. They are working on getting them to an Amber colour. 

When the Inner Alternating lights start going, cars behind the bus cannot pass... Oncoming cars should be prepared to stop.. Generally slowing down works. 

At the same time... If you're an oncoming car, try to judge the speed of the bus.. If it looks like the driver is still going 30 KM, it means they're not quite to the stop yet... 

This... This means stop... The only time it's not a stop is on a split highway with a median.. 

In Ontario, passing a school bus when the outer lights are flashing is a maximum of $2000 and 6 demerit points. 

Other places have different fines.. The most I've seen is Nova Scotia where the max is $5000 and 8 points. 

So... That's the alternating lights...

Next, we have the four way flashing lights, also known as Hazard Lights..

Now.. These are the same type of lights on your car that you use when you're stopped on the side of the road if you have a flat tire, or whatever else..

On a school bus, they serve many of the same purposes. If we're in a situation where we need to pull off to the side of the road, we turn on those lights and go about what we need to do. Those lights means Proceed With Caution.. Just like in your vehicle.. 

The only time they're used for anything else is if we're picking up groups on a charter. 

It is illegal for us to use our alternating lights for anything but picking up and dropping children off during our school runs. So we turn on the hazard lights to let you know to proceed with caution. 

I can't even exaggerate the number of people I've had stop and stare at me while pulled over to the side of the road with my hazard lights going because they thought I was stopping them. 

This is another image I found that explains it as easily as I just did.. 

So yeah.. This has been bothering me for a while.. Tonight I decided to finally write something out about it..