I don’t know if this is a law elsewhere, but in Massachusetts, school buses are required to stop before any railroad tracks. This makes sense to me, even if it’s a bit extreme, because it might avoid a one-in-a-million-type accident. However, the second thing the bus driver must do when approaching railroad tracks (after coming to a stop) is open the bus’s door. This I don’t get. Why does this part of the law exist? Is it just to test to make sure the door is functional, or what?
It’s a question of visibility, not door operation. School bus doors (like just about any bus doors) have windows in them, but the structural parts are opaque metal. On top of that, the right-side mirror is partly obstructed by the door. Opening the door insures the best view to the right and the rear, which are both good things to check before you cross railroad tracks.
Incidentally, many bus systems also require their drivers to use this technique anytime the view through the side door is obstructed (i. e. , if it’s raining), not only at rail crossings.
My bus driver always told us he was opening the door at RR tracks was b/c there was some law/rule/whatever that veterans could get a ride if they waited at the RR tracks. Anybody else heard of this?
When the doors of a school bus are opened, a switch is tripped turning on flashing yellow lights. Never pass a school bus when the lights are flashing.
Well, I guess the first response sounds the most likely so far. At least around here, the flashing yellow lights don’t mean you can’t pass; the flashing red lights do. In fact, often, the bus driver will wave you by if you stop on his flashing yellows.
I’ve been told that the bus driver opens the door so he can listen for an oncoming train. For what it’s worth. Remember the law might have been written by somebody who hasn’t ridden a school bus in decades…
No. In school district where I taught [many years ago], one of the bus drivers was suspended without pay (for a month, I think) for giving a ride to a woman carrying a bag of groceries. This was in the driver’s manual, to the effect of “Thou shalt not pick up passengers not assigned to that particular route.” This was also a common rule among several districts where I worked or lived: I have not been everywhere, so I cannot speak for every place.
School buses are for transporting pupils safely to and from school or school-authorized activities, not to be used as public transportation. Imagine the liability if there was an accident with an unauthorized passenger on board: the school district (which owned the buses, not a contracted service) would basically have its metaphoric ass in a sling legally. [Yes, there was a minor uproar over this (‘the driver is a nice person and was helping someone in need’), but the driver knew the rules ahead of time, and the liability issue was the main point.]
Not to mention the fact that, how are you, the driver, going to know some stranger at a railroad track claiming to be a veteran is actually a veteran, and therefore ‘entitled to ride the bus’? Are you going to take the time to check credentials? How about the liability and public uproar after finding out that this person turned out to be a pedophile or stalker, even if s/he was really veteran?
Liability is pretty much the key issue. Unless there is actually something on the books somewhere, this sounds like an urban legend, or something done is one community. I couldn’t imagine it happening where I live now (or then, for that matter).
According to a Medford, Oregon branch manager for Laidlaw, school bus drivers open their doors and driver’s-side windows to assure an unobstructed view for the driver, and to give the driver a chance to hear a train coming. In 1998, a train struck a school bus in Montana, killing two boys and injuring three others. The driver explained that he had stopped, but failed to open the bus door, and didn’t hear the train whistle because of music on the bus radio and the noise of the heater blower. Here’s a related CNN article.
Oh, here I found a Bus Driver Manual.