Over the last year or two, I’ve noticed school buses driving along with a flashing strobe light on the top of the bus. My first assumption (and this just shows I’ve read way too many bad thrillers) was that this was to signal the cops in case the bus was, yanno, hijacked by psycho killers or some such miscreants. The problem with this theory, though (okay, one of the problems with this theory) is that if we, the general public, don’t know what the significance of the flashing light is, the bus can signal all it likes and no one will call 911.
So what is the significance? Just to make the bus more visible? If so, why do I only see this occasionally? Why hasn’t it become standard issue?
This document says that they are just to make the bus more conspicous. I assume that means while stopping to pick up children. I saw a number of number links that were school district specific about implementing them. I think it just takes time to fit the fleet with them.
It’s a visibility thing. You wouldn’t think that people need help seeing a 40 foot long, bright yellow vehicle, but there you are.
Most states mandate them now to the point that every major manufacturer consider them standard equipment. States that didn’t require the retrofit on olde buses, made them mandatory on buses purchased manufactred after a certain date.
They’re only supposed to be used in inclement weather - fog, rain, snow, etc.
They’re used when weather makes visibility a problem. They do make the bus way more visible than without them on. When you stop in your car 10-20 times each trip, sometimes on rural roads and kids gather around where you’re going to stop, then I’ll be the first to suggest you get a strobe for your car.
Thought about putting your name in the thread title…
This is not necessarily the case. I’ve seen them flashing on cloudy but otherwise unexceptional mornings – and also while the bus is clearly in the middle of its run. (The two occasions I’m thinking of most specifically are at a busy – but not particularly dangerous – intersection in a business area.
(I’m guessing the fact that I haven’t seen them often is a commentary on the budget of the Philly school district, which probably didn’t mandate retrofitting.)
It’s law here in NYS that you have to stop for a stopped school bus - and yet people don’t. They just drive right on by, and they honk at you for stopping. And you have to stop on both sides of the road, too. I can see how they’d need visibility.
Then someone has them on unnecessarily. They are only really needed when it’s hard to see the bus. My drivers are fanatic about reminding their co-workers if they leave the switch flipped after the fog or rain has cleared and they didn’t turn them off.
They can be on when in motion, that’s not a big deal. And they’re not all that expensive. They add maybe $150 to the cost of a new bus. Retrofititng can be around $500, depending on the model of the bus.
Speaking of visibility, last Friday, I had a bus full of high school cheerleaders get rear-ended (insert your own joke here…) at 10:30 at night. The Limo driver said he “didn’t see” the big yellow bus stopped in front of him. Clear night, no rain, no fog.
No one hurt either. But still, how do you miss that big a thing in front of you?
That’s the law all over, and can I tell you how many people blow that off? I have 92 buses on the road every day, and at least 6-8 times a week, I sign a driver’s report about a blown stop arm. We forward them straight to the appropriate authority and prosecute every single one.
Interesting. IIRC they were adopted in the south (I’m thinking Tennessee) at least 5 years ago. Dunno what Twicks is seeing in her end of the state, but in central PA they all run the strobes day, night, regardless of weather.
LOL. That is the point I was gonna make. How can you miss a school bus?
I had been told that they make red lights change more quickly (because flashing lights on cop cars and ambulances are supposed to do so as well.) I pretty much believe that this is an urban legend.
Most of the time, that’s it. Usually a car from behind, or coming the other way will just roll by a stopped bus with it’s 8-ways (flashing reds and stop arm) on. We try (try) to teach the kids, if they even have to cross a street to get to the bus, to make eye contact with the bus driver before they cross. When we drop at the end of the day, the stop is situated so that the bus with it’s signals is stopping traffic on the street the kids have to cross. There’s a cross arm that extends from the front bumper out about 8 feet so the kids have to be that far in front of the bus. They get off, and wait on the curb for the driver to say it’s ok to cross while the traffic is being stopped.
Way too many kids killed near school buses are killed BY the bus. They walk behind or stay close alongside and when the bus pulls away get rolled over by the dual tires in back. Bus drivers are manic about counting kids getting off, knowing where they all went, and making sure the “danger zone” (roughly a ten-foot radius around the bus, including the blind spots) is clear.
And to **kanicbird’**s point - yeah we get write ups by the drivers on kids that do unsafe things like that in sight of the bus driver, and most of my principals are good about talking to parents when that’s a problem. In fact, right now (as soon as I watch Homer and Bart), I’m going to finish my monthly contribution to the school’s newsletters and this month’s topic is safety at and around the bus stop.
Wow, has this become an untitled “Ask the Bus Guy”? In my wildest dreams…
That’s a different system used on emergency vehicles (fire engines, ambulances) to turn the traffic lights in their favor when responding to a call. It has nothing to do with the visibility lights on school buses.
Strobes on school busses are a little pet peeve of mine, and let me try to explain why without going into a pit-worthy rant about it. In fact, since this is GQ and we have mr bus guy, I’ll just ask a few pointed questions.
Has there been any research to demonstrate that these strobe lights have had any positive impact on reducing accidents around school busses, or is this possibly just someone’s well-meaning but unsubstantiated “do it for the children” idea?
Has there been any research to to indicate how many accidents the strobes cause when the driver of another vehicle is unnecessarily distracted by them? “Huh? What was that flash?” BANG!
Frankly, I find the latter case more likely than the former, but I doubt we’d ever hear about any evidence to that effect.
With all the distractions drivers face these days (cell phones, DVD players, GPS, etc.) it is my personal opinion that a bright flashing light whose purpose is to announce that the occupants of this enormous bright yellow vehicle are more important than any one else on the road is useless and best, counterproductive at worst, and arrogant in either case. What really ticks me off is when the strobe is flashing and the bus is empty!
Beginning to sound like a rant, isn’t it? Sorry. I’ll just close by saying that I’m willing to change my opinion if there is some evidence that they really are effective.
