Crossing guards vs. the right of way

Factual Questions
1

Do the instructions of a crossing guard overrule the other rules of the road regarding the right of way?

For example, on my morning commute I pass through a two-way stop near a school. I don’t own a car; I commute on a bicycle. One morning I pulled up to this intersection just as the crossing guard was holding up traffic in all four directions to let a bunch of little’uns and their parents cross on foot. But when the pedestrians had finished crossing, instead of just getting out of the intersection the crossing guard continued holding up traffic and waved me through, even though I didn’t have the right of way, presumably just because I was on a bicycle. Did I suddenly have the right of way because the crossing guard said so, or was he throwing the rules of the road out the window?

Another example: the next major intersection on that route also has a crossing guard, but it has a traffic light too. What happens if the light is red but the crossing guard is waving you through? What if the light is green but the guard is telling you to stop, even if there are no pedestrians trying to cross?

2

I think if there’s a crossing guard, he overrules any red lights or stop signs, and what he says is the rule. Otherwise, you’d have chaos.

3

I’m not sure about crossing guards, but a cop directing traffice takes precedence over any signals (this makes sense: the cop can’t watch the signals in addition to watching all the cars). I’d expect that crossing guards have the same precedence, if not through law, then through custom, and for the same reasons.

4

Presuming that a crossing guard has the same authority as a polic officer, whatever the crossing guard directs overrides any other rules of right of way, including traffic lights.

(Just as a side note, at least some states do not dicate who has the right of way in a situation, only who must yield right of way. The upshot of that is that if you are involved in an accident that could have clearly prevented, you cannot defend yourself by saying you had the right of way.)

5

Well, that’s kind of the question: does a crossing guard have the same authority as a police officer in these situations?

6

A bit OT but
Crossing guards also have authority over any laws of physics, or at least in their own minds. Near where I once worked there was a hill descending towards a cross walk, one morning the crossing guard stepped out in front of a truck load of steel scrap and put her hand up, knowing that this would surely stop any 30+ton truck she waved the children into the street. The truck, needless to say did not stop, nether did the kids, they scattered in all directions, midst the sounds of streaking crossing guard, air horn and tires. No one was injured. Despite a very heated exchange between the driver and the crossing guard no charges were ever brought against the driver, he was operating under the posted speed and not overloaded, trucks just don’t stop quickly going down hill.

7

Traffic laws vary from state to state, but it seems to me logical that any person directing traffic – whether a cop or a crossing guard or any Joe Schmo who’s trying to help – would take precedent over all the other right-of-way rules.