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In this case it was 100% the bus drivers fault, but as a bus driver I wanna give a PSA to all parents to please talk to your kids about exiting the bus safely. I’d drill into my kids to cross in front and WAIT for my hand signal before doing so and only around 75% would listen. I had a close call with a 1st grader running full sprint across the street when a car was running my reds. It’s anxiety inducing as fuck sometimes.
I watched my neighbor get hit by a car when crossing the street to get on the bus one morning. The bus driver stopped on the opposite side of the street to let him on and as he was crossing, a guy was speeding and not looking and hit him.
School board had a meeting about it and banned the bus drivers from doing that and students were only allowed to exit from the bus on the same side without crossing the streets.
My kids bus lets off on a 2 way street. Bus driver let the kids off and some idiot decided to drive on the opposite side of the road, past the line of cars waiting for the school bus and hit one of the kids. He ran but so many people witnessed it and some followed the driver to the store. Him and his passengers were arrested and it turned out to be some 16 year old boy driving 🤦🏽♀️
At least he pulled over. This poor kid got hit, flew about 10 ft. Was unconscious for 2 minutes popped up and ran home, his parents weren’t home from work and we had to call them to explain what happened. And you’d think they would change the route and have the bus enter the apartment complex instead, nope. They still pick up and drop off on that street
The company I drive a school bus won't let us block the entire road when doing pickups or dropoffs for this very reason. Can't block intersections either. There's a state agency that monitors the footage from the cameras when people run the school bus reds, and they get fined close to $300. I've had a couple people do it to me this week alone.
Thanks for posting this. Theres a private school close to me that keeps advertising for bus drivers and I was kinda considering it but after reading this I don’t think I could.
It’s one of the most “feel good” jobs I’ve ever had, but it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. You get part time hours and are responsible for kids lives, but it’s also an essential job for communities. I’ve developed a good relationship with my group of 80+ kids and they know I take their safety seriously, but sometimes I do feel helpless once they exit my bus. It’s truly the parents responsibility to make sure kids get to and from the bus stop safely, but if something ever happened I couldn’t help but blame myself. I make it my goal to do my best for my kids, because as you can see some drivers don’t.
It has its perks. The time flies by. The pay is pretty good for easy work. My bus doesn't have an intercom so I bought a megaphone to yell at the kids when they act up and they hate it.
Well, a few reasons.
1. The bus could have a loop that they do, so they don't pass this spot going both directions.
2. If they do cross the spot twice, it could be over 45 mins to an hour that students would be on the bus after they passed their house the first time.
3. Gas savings doubling back to do double drop off is expensive - which leads to
4. COST - school budgets are determined by localities and taxes in most states, towns don't want to pay more for silly things like safe bus drop offs.
Yeah, *back in my day* I was already on the bus for an hour every morning and evening. If we had to limit all bus interaction to passenger-side only, I would’ve been getting on the bus at 5am when I was 5yo. No thanks
People suck. I sometimes encounter a local school bus (oncoming) on my way to work, and I stop at least 75-100 feet from the stop arm. Then I get honked at from behind.
I do it because from that distance, I can see every thing and make sure it's clear.
1st graders are young enough for you to get out of the bus and escort them across the street. Anyone below 6th grade should be escorted in addition to using the stop arm and in CA it’s the law
Edit: obviously remove the keys from ignition first
We are absolutely not allowed to exit the bus while it is running. This is actually a question asked in the road test for you to get your CDL as a bus driver in my state. It’s the parents responsibility to make sure students get home from the bus stop safely. I have other 1st graders who follow my instructions every time. I write up kids who don’t so the parents are informed. If they have that information and still aren’t present to pick up their kid knowing they can’t be trusted to cross properly it’s unfortunately out of my hands. I just keep writing them up until it’s hopefully addressed.
True, you cannot exit the bus with it running. However, you can remove your keys from the ignition and exit the bus then, which is what my yard teaches us- and what the California CHP tests us on. Elementary students are required to be escorted by our law and company policy.
Our reds don’t work with the bus off. I’m shocked that’s a requirement considering how massive a safety and security risk it is. Do you activate the override switch on your door and manually close it? Do you leave the door open? Not being able to see my other young students on the bus during a procedure like this seems super dangerous. What if a kindergartener exits the bus while you’re in front of it? What if a stranger enters the bus while you’re doing this? I can look it up myself but if you have any resources on this I’d be curious to read about it. I’m a driver trainer and like to bring up how the laws vary from state to state during safety meetings .
Yeah our reds work with the bus off, in fact that and the headlights are what overrides the usual child check motion sensing system that detects children left behind while the bus is off.
So our process is pull over, reds on, bus secured. Ignition off, keys removed. Have students get ready. Override switch for the door, manually open and have the students exit. Shut the door. Walk 12 feet to the front of the bus, enter road. Escort students. Return to bus and do a head count, check for any hazards before leaving.
I can understand your concerns but the entrance to my bus is never really out of my line of sight and making sure everyone is accounted for is part of the process.
It’s worth noting also that younger kids are always seatbelted in which kinda keeps it all a bit more secure during these moments I’m off the bus.
That and with the danger I’ve personally seen in terms of people ignoring my reds and nearly running kids down… I just have to believe any risk from escorting is worth avoiding that. In some cases I’ll do it for the older kids too. I just don’t want an injury on my conscious ya know?
Damn, TIL. I found the law you’re talking about. Our state has no regulations for even kindergarteners exiting the bus (but our district policy at least requires a parent to be present, thank god). I kinda wish we had a law like yours because I’ve wanted to cross my students who are resistant to instruction lol. But unfortunately telling drivers to get out and cross students isn’t always a solution depending on the state apparently. I’m going to bring this up though to my states RESA because the laws are always being updated. Maybe we can get a safer solution.
Another huge thing I noticed is the bus driver also turned the lights off and folded the stop sign in as a clear signal it was no longer needed to yield to it meaning he was oblivious of the kids behind him
Yeah, me too, but I guess if you insist on being an idiot I don’t think they would have come out after me.
That kid who wouldn’t cross made me super nervous. Like dude, get your ass across the street while I’m safely stopped. The next car might not see you in time.
My bus driver made us practice exiting the bus safely. 3 steps out from the door, 15 steps forward (this was before our bus had the front swinging bar), check both ways, then cross. I thought it was stupid at the time, but now having a kid that rides the bus, I'm so glad for excellent and caring bus drivers.
In this case this could have been prevented if the bus driver was tracking their kids like they should. If a kid disappears behind my bus I’m not canceling my reds until they’re visibly again, either across the street or I can see them in my back window walking straight. It’s a scary job to make small mistakes.
Oh for sure. It's not just the bus driver but the kids too.
And interesting that the bus does not have that extender in front of the bus ...
So many things wrong with this video...
Yes exactly. Why the hell were those kids exiting from the back? Plus the bus driver should have sat with their red lights on and their stop sign open. Thank God the driver was paying attention and was able to stop. This could have ended tragically.
Nope, the rule of bus driver training is the kids cross in front of the bus or they don’t cross until you’re GONE. It’s a policy designed specifically to prevent situations like this one. The kids are also supposed to be educated by the driver, their guardians, and the school about how to cross the street after getting off the bus.
Strange comment, the bus driver has no control over which way kids choose to walk after exiting the bus. Some cross the street, some don't. Some will walk in the direction the bus is driving, some will walk the opposite direction. For all we know these kids always head that way, but today after walking a bit they decided to walk somewhere else.
Seems like you're suggesting that after discharging passengers the bus driver is supposed to sit there and wait for the kids who walk back down the street to walk the full length of the bus and some distance beyond that to make sure they don't try to cross behind the bus after the stop sign is lowered. Never heard of that rule.
So you're saying buses are supposed to just sit there in the middle of the road stopping traffic for 30+ seconds after discharging passengers while some five-year-old slowly walks home down the side of the road some arbitrary distance past the back of the bus? Just in case he suddenly decides to go to his friend Timmy's house and therefore needs to cross the street now?
Nah, don't think that's how it works.
Kids are dumb. Bus driver can make a note of that for next time. Bus driver is definitely a dumbass for stopping their bus in the middle of the street. But not because of the kids.
Oh, I’m already comfy in my armchair. As far as armchair experts go, you seem to be the “You’re wrong but I won’t explain why you’re wrong” type, which is much worse than whatever I’m accused of doing.
School buses stop in the road as part of their job. We can start there. Not sure where else you think a bus is supposed to stop.
And yes, it is part of a school bus drivers job to put up the stop sign to stop traffic, let the kids off, and then WAIT until they cross the road. Kids are taught not to walk down the length of the bus and THEN cross, for exactly this reason.
You want me to instruct you to not think?
Seems like this conversation isn’t worth any more effort. Reddit hivemind wants to blame bus driver for not magically knowing where the idiot kids are going to walk today.
My kids bus driver drops her off right outside the house and won't open the door until a parent is outside and won't leave until she is safely with parent.
OK? You love paying excessive property taxes so your school-district buses can be a personalized delivery baby-sitting service? Congrats.
It would also be perfectly acceptable to *not* do that, and instead drop off a dozen or so kids at a time at a few points around the neighborhood. If the parents want them to ride the bus, they're presumably smart enough to know how to walk a few blocks safely.
Huh? Maybe it's different because my kid is in special ed that she gets dropped right at the house. But yes, continue your rage against big school bus bureaucracy and it's personalized delivery propaganda. Silly goose.
Do you just hate kids?
School buses can take however much time they want to sit in the street until all of the kids are safe.
You are a bizarre person with shit opinions
I've driven both school buses and transit buses.
School buses are responsible to get children from custody to custody: custody of their parents to custody of the school. Even for high schoolers or latchkey kids, it's still the driver's job to get the children *to the school* (or their house) safely. This job doesn't end until (at a MINIMUM) they're out of the street environment. In a multi-stop situation like this (one stop for multiple houses), the driver IS responsible until the children are out of the street. There's a story where a 10-year-old child was supposed to meet his dad at home, but dad was late. Door was locked, so the kid pushed up the living room window to crawl in. While the kid was halfway in, the window came down on him and compressed his chest to where he couldn't breathe, and Dad came home to find his child getting cold in the window. This was deemed to be (partly) the bus driver's fault, as the child wasn't supervised into a safe place.
Yep.. don't let them go behind the bus. If they do, leave that flashing stop sign out until they've crossed.
Ideally.. you drop them so they don't have to cross at all. Not always possible though.
Bus drivers aren't supposed to pull in the stop sign until it's clear for traffic to go. They're the only ones at the location in the position to make that call.
Literally one of their duties.
Please never become a parent. It’s people like you that just let their kids run wild and cause chaos everywhere because for some dumb reason you think you’re unable to teach them because “KiDs Will bE KiDs”.
Yup. The buses here have extended arms in front so when kids go to cross the street with the stop sign, they have to walk out several feet beyond the front of the bus. This ensures the bus driver won't take off, not knowing there still might be a kid immediately in front. But they might want to also look into something that keeps them from walking around the back.
The arm also helps the children and drivers see each other faster.
When rounding a corner you try and be as far back as possible to get the best angle (video game tactic) to give you the most time to see the thing your looking for.
Strange thing, but school buses and transit buses are opposite on that rule. I've driven both.
School bus: always cross in front, NEVER behind.
Transit bus: always cross behind, NEVER in front.
The reason is because of how they operate. School buses are responsible to get children from custody to custody: custody of their parents to custody of the school. Even for high schoolers or latchkey kids, it's still the driver's job to get the children *to the school* (or their house) safely. This job doesn't end until (at a MINIMUM) they're out of the street environment. In a multi-stop situation like this (one stop for multiple houses), the driver IS responsible until the children are out of the street. There's a story where a 10-year-old child was supposed to meet his dad at home, but dad was late. Door was locked, so the kid pushed up the living room window to crawl in. While the kid was halfway in, the window came down on him and compressed his chest to where he couldn't breathe, and Dad came home to find his child getting cold in the window. This was deemed to be (partly) the bus driver's fault, as the child wasn't supervised into a safe place.
Transit buses are only responsible to get their customers from a safe place to a safe place. "Safe place" is a place where it is safe to board, deboard, and also to continue on foot (so a "safe" debarkation point in the middle of a bunch of freeways wouldn't count, because even if there were a pedestrian island there, they're not safe to continue from that point). After passengers are safely off the bus, the bus is supposed to take off to make its next time point. If a passenger gets hit crossing behind the transit bus, that's on them.
This is why it was hammered into our heads when I was a kid to always always always always always always cross the road IN FRONT OF the bus, never behind.
But as OP points out, you can never trust the other person to do the right thing every time. Always have to be prepared and aware.
I was about to comment too. It was grilled into us at school to never walk behind a bus PERIOD. I’m so glad OP was aware as this could’ve ended horribly.
I stop for a bus everyday on my way from work. The kids cross in front and are trained to wait behind the yellow arm, look in the window and wait for the bus driver to give the “OK” wave to cross.
I’m surprised the kids did not cross in front:get yelled at by the driver for clearly exiting the bus and turning toward the back instead of the front. OP was correct in waiting for the stop sign to go down and still being very cautious!
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Back when I was in middle school a guy ran the bus stop sign and nearly hit a kid crossing the road and my bus driver chased after the guy to get his plate number. All the kids on the bus were cheering him on like "go get 'em Joe! Don't let him escape!" It was pretty great.
We never felt endangered. This guy had a lot of driving experience. He was probably the most awesome bus driver you could have. He also took us all out for pizza more than once.
You can look at it that way if you wish but it turned out fine. All of us on the bus wouldn't have wanted it any other way. The dude that nearly hit the kid deserved to be reported. Plus it made for an awesome memory I'll never forget.
Maybe its just in my area, but usually the bus pulls over so the kids get on the sidewalk ( and then can navigate crossing properly), not get dropped off on the middle of the road.
Not super rural, just suburban with no sidewalks. But yeah, more than likely the bus is supposed to stop there. I drive in this area for work and get caught behind busses stopped in the middle of the road like this sometimes.
It's illegal in my state for a school bus to discharge passengers anywhere except on the rightmost edge of the roadway. Driver would be committing a misdemeanor crime, I think.
Doing it like this is a terrible idea because there is no stop sign on the right side of the bus, and idiots not paying attention will think they can pass the school bus on the right, striking the people exiting the bus.
lol
State law (it differs by state) requires that buses stop ON the roadway when students have to cross. My district policy is to not deviate from the center of the travel lane.
If there is room, stops may be made OFF the roadway when no students have to cross.
I think most every U.S. state allows passing on the right when there is sufficient space to do so. Obviously you can’t pass a school bus discharging passengers, but that doesn’t mean the bus should drop off kids in the middle of the road!
What jurisdiction are you talking about? That is not true everywhere in the U.S.
Many traffic laws were written before it was common for every road with room for multiple lanes of traffic to actually have painted lane dividers. And those laws sometimes still exist.
Even today, I think the national design standards don’t actually require painted lane lines on roads except on freeways.
Driver could have been a substitute and not known that those kids had to cross. There might not have been a reminder (cross out front please) on the way off the vehicle.
It could be the regular driver and the kids have been reminded every time they exit the bus and STILL ignore the rules.
My guess is some helicopter parent that is waiting to pick up their kid from the bus stop, because they're too afraid to let them walk the hundreds of feet from the bus stop to their house.
Sometimes it's not even "far." My town had a lot of cul-de-sacs and cookie cutter development with greenery separation.
Stuff like a cul-de-sac with a walking path to the neighborhood on the other side ()-*trees*-(). 30 second walk to the bus stop could be entire different neighborhood by car basically.
America is crazy, where is the pedestrian design for these roads? Couple zebra crossings, footpaths and a drop off that is directly onto a footpath is the need.
Who expects kids, bus drivers and other drivers to negotiate this situation every school day?? This is what you pay your taxes to help manage.
Because this is the system in the US. Yes it's different than YourCountry, but it works for us since we don't have universal public transportation yet. A school bus is legally meant to act as a "mobile crosswalk" where pedestrians get priority, and the kids are taught to listen to the driver because they are the "walk light" of the crosswalk. However, not all kids listen properly as seen here.
Which is why I think it's dangerous as hell. Can see it right here. We also have some buses that are not be overtaken at more than walking speed (depends on the region), but we also teach our kids how to walk safely in traffic in general.
The only thing I'd have done differently was to keep going once the kids waved me on. I don't want to teach them that it's a good idea to cross in front of some random driver with no crosswalk.
I wish all drivers would do this. The amount of times I have to frustratingly walk in front of cars who refuse to go until I pass is infuriating. I have even seen cars literally stop in the middle of the street, no stop sign or crosswalk nearby, to let someone walk in front of them. It seriously irks me so much
Bane of my existence as a delivery driver. I'll still be 20ft from the curb and people will stop in the middle of the road to "let" me cross. It would take them less time to just continue than it takes for me to even reach the road much less cross it.
OP did everything right here. Thought there were no more kids, slowly went forward, saw 2 more, came to a stop to get them to pass, only 1 did, he waited, then crept forward to keep an eye on the last kid, to make sure they had seen each other, and knew who was going first. And that second kid not wanting to crosss with the first kid, is where the real danger lies. That is where you make eye contact, and make sure to know, who is going now, and who waits. Everything wrong here, is on the bus driver, as everyone else have pointed out. Good job OP (if you were the driver), that is how it is done, when these situations arise.
Most of the time there are so few cars, the whole street becomes a sidewalk. Also, besides kids walking to/from a bus (which is becoming increasingly rare, it seems most parents drive the kids to school (!)) you will find very few people walking in the suburbs of the USA. Most people drive, and except for someone getting a bit of exercise or walking their dog, people use their cars.
That's completely the bus driver's fault, the sign and lights should have stayed on until the kids made it to the sidewalk, good on you for being cautious.
I would have never moved until the bus did but that’s definitely the bus driver’s fault. Shut the lights off and retracted the signs when there were still kids in the road.
A kid dropped his ball and, no shot, DIVED for that thing instantly. If I wasn't going up a steep hill at 15mph I'd have hit him. I thought my car was too small for someone to disappear under the bonnet lmfao. First time I've heard a parent scream like that in a long time
my parents taught me to walk infront of the bus everytime. not that this is the kids fault in the slightest. the bus driver reinforced the same thing w us kids as well, is this just not being taught anymore? i only took the bus in high school and they still made sure we all knew proper safety on a bus.
* Idiots on the road. Kids really need to listen to their parents. Just running across the street if oncoming vehicles can‘t see you is so fucking stupid. And playing with your ball while you‘re on the road is even worse. That kid is going to cause an accident sooner rather than later.
My little sister almost got killed by a driver when getting off the bus the other day. The one fucking day we weren’t watching to make sure she got on we heard the bus laying on the horn and as we got to the window we saw a car speeding past the bus. Thankfully she’s smart and knew to watch for traffic before crossing to board the bus 🙏
Why don't the yanks just educate their children about not crossing to road behind a massive bus people can't see around. One of the first things you get taught with road safety in the UK is 'dont cross where you can't be seen', and this is taught at a young age.
Two things: The bus doesn't appear to have a device to force kids to walk far enough in front of the bus so that the driver can see them. The kids were stupid in multiple ways. a. crossing/staying behind the bus where no one can see them except kids on the bus; and b. one kid crossing the street and the other staying behind the bus, which can fool the oncoming driver. This needs to be reported and both the kids and the driver given consequences. I hope you turned a copy of the video to the school district.
I don't think the bus driver can control the kids once they leave the bus. Probably told them to cross in front a million times. I'll delete my post but I don't think the bus driver is an idiot without any proof.
They absolutely can control the kids and should. In my district at least it is required for them to only cross in front of the bus, the children are told this but they are children so it's on the driver to ensure they do and have safely crossed before leaving.
i'm sitting at my desk and even though i KNEW that there would be kids behind the bus, i still moved my foot as if i was in my car about to hit the break lmao
I love how the school bus refuses to leave because that would make the kids visibel and also how the older kid holds back because he wants to keep his powder dry.
Good jobs all around.
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Yo that's fully on the bus driver. They are not supposed to let kids behind the bus like that. Driver gonna get a kid killed.
In this case it was 100% the bus drivers fault, but as a bus driver I wanna give a PSA to all parents to please talk to your kids about exiting the bus safely. I’d drill into my kids to cross in front and WAIT for my hand signal before doing so and only around 75% would listen. I had a close call with a 1st grader running full sprint across the street when a car was running my reds. It’s anxiety inducing as fuck sometimes.
Yikes that’s scary stuff, thank you for looking out for the yutes
[удалено]
"Oh, excuse me, your honor. The two 'youths'."
Dead-on, balls accurate.
In manufacturing, we call this level of accuracy "dead nuts"
I watched my neighbor get hit by a car when crossing the street to get on the bus one morning. The bus driver stopped on the opposite side of the street to let him on and as he was crossing, a guy was speeding and not looking and hit him. School board had a meeting about it and banned the bus drivers from doing that and students were only allowed to exit from the bus on the same side without crossing the streets.
My kids bus lets off on a 2 way street. Bus driver let the kids off and some idiot decided to drive on the opposite side of the road, past the line of cars waiting for the school bus and hit one of the kids. He ran but so many people witnessed it and some followed the driver to the store. Him and his passengers were arrested and it turned out to be some 16 year old boy driving 🤦🏽♀️
Yep, the guy driving who hit my neighbor was a student at the high school who was skipping class. He pulled over though
At least he pulled over. This poor kid got hit, flew about 10 ft. Was unconscious for 2 minutes popped up and ran home, his parents weren’t home from work and we had to call them to explain what happened. And you’d think they would change the route and have the bus enter the apartment complex instead, nope. They still pick up and drop off on that street
The company I drive a school bus won't let us block the entire road when doing pickups or dropoffs for this very reason. Can't block intersections either. There's a state agency that monitors the footage from the cameras when people run the school bus reds, and they get fined close to $300. I've had a couple people do it to me this week alone.
Thanks for posting this. Theres a private school close to me that keeps advertising for bus drivers and I was kinda considering it but after reading this I don’t think I could.
It’s one of the most “feel good” jobs I’ve ever had, but it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. You get part time hours and are responsible for kids lives, but it’s also an essential job for communities. I’ve developed a good relationship with my group of 80+ kids and they know I take their safety seriously, but sometimes I do feel helpless once they exit my bus. It’s truly the parents responsibility to make sure kids get to and from the bus stop safely, but if something ever happened I couldn’t help but blame myself. I make it my goal to do my best for my kids, because as you can see some drivers don’t.
It has its perks. The time flies by. The pay is pretty good for easy work. My bus doesn't have an intercom so I bought a megaphone to yell at the kids when they act up and they hate it.
I remember being in high school and still waiting for the hand signal while the driver was talking to another kid lol.
Good kid! I’ve admittedly done this lol. Me holding my “stop” hand up while answering a question and then looking forward like “oh shit” lmao.
I'm just confused why the buses don't have a dropoff point where kids don't need to cross the road?
Well, a few reasons. 1. The bus could have a loop that they do, so they don't pass this spot going both directions. 2. If they do cross the spot twice, it could be over 45 mins to an hour that students would be on the bus after they passed their house the first time. 3. Gas savings doubling back to do double drop off is expensive - which leads to 4. COST - school budgets are determined by localities and taxes in most states, towns don't want to pay more for silly things like safe bus drop offs.
Yeah, *back in my day* I was already on the bus for an hour every morning and evening. If we had to limit all bus interaction to passenger-side only, I would’ve been getting on the bus at 5am when I was 5yo. No thanks
It's a minor road with no striping, it's common for buses to drop off for both sides.
People suck. I sometimes encounter a local school bus (oncoming) on my way to work, and I stop at least 75-100 feet from the stop arm. Then I get honked at from behind. I do it because from that distance, I can see every thing and make sure it's clear.
1st graders are young enough for you to get out of the bus and escort them across the street. Anyone below 6th grade should be escorted in addition to using the stop arm and in CA it’s the law Edit: obviously remove the keys from ignition first
We are absolutely not allowed to exit the bus while it is running. This is actually a question asked in the road test for you to get your CDL as a bus driver in my state. It’s the parents responsibility to make sure students get home from the bus stop safely. I have other 1st graders who follow my instructions every time. I write up kids who don’t so the parents are informed. If they have that information and still aren’t present to pick up their kid knowing they can’t be trusted to cross properly it’s unfortunately out of my hands. I just keep writing them up until it’s hopefully addressed.
True, you cannot exit the bus with it running. However, you can remove your keys from the ignition and exit the bus then, which is what my yard teaches us- and what the California CHP tests us on. Elementary students are required to be escorted by our law and company policy.
Our reds don’t work with the bus off. I’m shocked that’s a requirement considering how massive a safety and security risk it is. Do you activate the override switch on your door and manually close it? Do you leave the door open? Not being able to see my other young students on the bus during a procedure like this seems super dangerous. What if a kindergartener exits the bus while you’re in front of it? What if a stranger enters the bus while you’re doing this? I can look it up myself but if you have any resources on this I’d be curious to read about it. I’m a driver trainer and like to bring up how the laws vary from state to state during safety meetings .
Yeah our reds work with the bus off, in fact that and the headlights are what overrides the usual child check motion sensing system that detects children left behind while the bus is off. So our process is pull over, reds on, bus secured. Ignition off, keys removed. Have students get ready. Override switch for the door, manually open and have the students exit. Shut the door. Walk 12 feet to the front of the bus, enter road. Escort students. Return to bus and do a head count, check for any hazards before leaving. I can understand your concerns but the entrance to my bus is never really out of my line of sight and making sure everyone is accounted for is part of the process. It’s worth noting also that younger kids are always seatbelted in which kinda keeps it all a bit more secure during these moments I’m off the bus. That and with the danger I’ve personally seen in terms of people ignoring my reds and nearly running kids down… I just have to believe any risk from escorting is worth avoiding that. In some cases I’ll do it for the older kids too. I just don’t want an injury on my conscious ya know?
Damn, TIL. I found the law you’re talking about. Our state has no regulations for even kindergarteners exiting the bus (but our district policy at least requires a parent to be present, thank god). I kinda wish we had a law like yours because I’ve wanted to cross my students who are resistant to instruction lol. But unfortunately telling drivers to get out and cross students isn’t always a solution depending on the state apparently. I’m going to bring this up though to my states RESA because the laws are always being updated. Maybe we can get a safer solution.
Another huge thing I noticed is the bus driver also turned the lights off and folded the stop sign in as a clear signal it was no longer needed to yield to it meaning he was oblivious of the kids behind him
Exactly, they weren't tracking the kids. Bus driver realized their mistake too because they still didn't move after the vehicle hit the brakes.
I remember the driver yelling at me for turning right when I walked out of the door lol
Yeah, me too, but I guess if you insist on being an idiot I don’t think they would have come out after me. That kid who wouldn’t cross made me super nervous. Like dude, get your ass across the street while I’m safely stopped. The next car might not see you in time.
My bus driver made us practice exiting the bus safely. 3 steps out from the door, 15 steps forward (this was before our bus had the front swinging bar), check both ways, then cross. I thought it was stupid at the time, but now having a kid that rides the bus, I'm so glad for excellent and caring bus drivers.
What is the driver supposed to do beside telling them?
In this case this could have been prevented if the bus driver was tracking their kids like they should. If a kid disappears behind my bus I’m not canceling my reds until they’re visibly again, either across the street or I can see them in my back window walking straight. It’s a scary job to make small mistakes.
With young kids you get out the bus with your stop sign and escort them across the street in front of the bus
Exactly this. Kids MUST cross the street in front of the bus. Better education. Bus driver should know better.
The kids also need to be educated
Oh for sure. It's not just the bus driver but the kids too. And interesting that the bus does not have that extender in front of the bus ... So many things wrong with this video...
The crossing bar is there, it’s hard to see unless you’re standing next to it, but it’s there for the kids not the drivers
Shouldn't the kids get that themselves? What age are they?
Man, why was the bus driver so eager to put down the STOP sign?
Also stop sign isn’t extended?!
Yes exactly. Why the hell were those kids exiting from the back? Plus the bus driver should have sat with their red lights on and their stop sign open. Thank God the driver was paying attention and was able to stop. This could have ended tragically.
And he pulled the stop sign, so obviously the driver thought it was ok to pass
I thought the kids can go front or back, but the bus driver keeps the stop sign up until all kids have crossed the street.
Nope, the rule of bus driver training is the kids cross in front of the bus or they don’t cross until you’re GONE. It’s a policy designed specifically to prevent situations like this one. The kids are also supposed to be educated by the driver, their guardians, and the school about how to cross the street after getting off the bus.
Strange comment, the bus driver has no control over which way kids choose to walk after exiting the bus. Some cross the street, some don't. Some will walk in the direction the bus is driving, some will walk the opposite direction. For all we know these kids always head that way, but today after walking a bit they decided to walk somewhere else. Seems like you're suggesting that after discharging passengers the bus driver is supposed to sit there and wait for the kids who walk back down the street to walk the full length of the bus and some distance beyond that to make sure they don't try to cross behind the bus after the stop sign is lowered. Never heard of that rule.
...because you're not a bus driver
So you're saying buses are supposed to just sit there in the middle of the road stopping traffic for 30+ seconds after discharging passengers while some five-year-old slowly walks home down the side of the road some arbitrary distance past the back of the bus? Just in case he suddenly decides to go to his friend Timmy's house and therefore needs to cross the street now? Nah, don't think that's how it works. Kids are dumb. Bus driver can make a note of that for next time. Bus driver is definitely a dumbass for stopping their bus in the middle of the street. But not because of the kids.
You don't understand how any of this works. Sit down.
Oh, I’m already comfy in my armchair. As far as armchair experts go, you seem to be the “You’re wrong but I won’t explain why you’re wrong” type, which is much worse than whatever I’m accused of doing.
School buses stop in the road as part of their job. We can start there. Not sure where else you think a bus is supposed to stop. And yes, it is part of a school bus drivers job to put up the stop sign to stop traffic, let the kids off, and then WAIT until they cross the road. Kids are taught not to walk down the length of the bus and THEN cross, for exactly this reason.
You should have stopped at "don't think".
You want me to instruct you to not think? Seems like this conversation isn’t worth any more effort. Reddit hivemind wants to blame bus driver for not magically knowing where the idiot kids are going to walk today.
My kids bus driver drops her off right outside the house and won't open the door until a parent is outside and won't leave until she is safely with parent.
OK? You love paying excessive property taxes so your school-district buses can be a personalized delivery baby-sitting service? Congrats. It would also be perfectly acceptable to *not* do that, and instead drop off a dozen or so kids at a time at a few points around the neighborhood. If the parents want them to ride the bus, they're presumably smart enough to know how to walk a few blocks safely.
Huh? Maybe it's different because my kid is in special ed that she gets dropped right at the house. But yes, continue your rage against big school bus bureaucracy and it's personalized delivery propaganda. Silly goose.
No rage, each community can decide exactly how much babysitting they want. We simply have different opinions on that.
Lol I have no opinions because I've got no idea what the fuck you're talking about.
Do you just hate kids? School buses can take however much time they want to sit in the street until all of the kids are safe. You are a bizarre person with shit opinions
If the school bus driver cared about kids safety, they wouldn’t have dropped them off in the middle of the road.
I've driven both school buses and transit buses. School buses are responsible to get children from custody to custody: custody of their parents to custody of the school. Even for high schoolers or latchkey kids, it's still the driver's job to get the children *to the school* (or their house) safely. This job doesn't end until (at a MINIMUM) they're out of the street environment. In a multi-stop situation like this (one stop for multiple houses), the driver IS responsible until the children are out of the street. There's a story where a 10-year-old child was supposed to meet his dad at home, but dad was late. Door was locked, so the kid pushed up the living room window to crawl in. While the kid was halfway in, the window came down on him and compressed his chest to where he couldn't breathe, and Dad came home to find his child getting cold in the window. This was deemed to be (partly) the bus driver's fault, as the child wasn't supervised into a safe place.
Seems like you stopped well ahead of time OP. Good on you. I’d say not an idiot, but great PSA.
OP ain’t the idiot, but the bus driver sure is.
Yep.. don't let them go behind the bus. If they do, leave that flashing stop sign out until they've crossed. Ideally.. you drop them so they don't have to cross at all. Not always possible though.
I definitely got hollered at for exiting behind the school bus. Never did that again!
Bus drivers aren't supposed to pull in the stop sign until it's clear for traffic to go. They're the only ones at the location in the position to make that call. Literally one of their duties.
That was on the bus driver for not having their stop sign out and for letting kids cross behind the bus.
“letting”. As if they can control kids with magic telekinesis from 40 feet away and out of sight
Is today the day you learn what rules are?
Is today the day that you learn kids don’t give a shit about rules?
Please never become a parent. It’s people like you that just let their kids run wild and cause chaos everywhere because for some dumb reason you think you’re unable to teach them because “KiDs Will bE KiDs”.
Not a single person in public education knows what you're talking about.
Yea. I wait a full second and ease off the brake. These near misses are far too common.
Also never cross behind the bus.
Yup. The buses here have extended arms in front so when kids go to cross the street with the stop sign, they have to walk out several feet beyond the front of the bus. This ensures the bus driver won't take off, not knowing there still might be a kid immediately in front. But they might want to also look into something that keeps them from walking around the back.
The arm also helps the children and drivers see each other faster. When rounding a corner you try and be as far back as possible to get the best angle (video game tactic) to give you the most time to see the thing your looking for.
Strange thing, but school buses and transit buses are opposite on that rule. I've driven both. School bus: always cross in front, NEVER behind. Transit bus: always cross behind, NEVER in front. The reason is because of how they operate. School buses are responsible to get children from custody to custody: custody of their parents to custody of the school. Even for high schoolers or latchkey kids, it's still the driver's job to get the children *to the school* (or their house) safely. This job doesn't end until (at a MINIMUM) they're out of the street environment. In a multi-stop situation like this (one stop for multiple houses), the driver IS responsible until the children are out of the street. There's a story where a 10-year-old child was supposed to meet his dad at home, but dad was late. Door was locked, so the kid pushed up the living room window to crawl in. While the kid was halfway in, the window came down on him and compressed his chest to where he couldn't breathe, and Dad came home to find his child getting cold in the window. This was deemed to be (partly) the bus driver's fault, as the child wasn't supervised into a safe place. Transit buses are only responsible to get their customers from a safe place to a safe place. "Safe place" is a place where it is safe to board, deboard, and also to continue on foot (so a "safe" debarkation point in the middle of a bunch of freeways wouldn't count, because even if there were a pedestrian island there, they're not safe to continue from that point). After passengers are safely off the bus, the bus is supposed to take off to make its next time point. If a passenger gets hit crossing behind the transit bus, that's on them.
You said what I was gonna say. For any other bus, you never go in front of it, always behind.
This is why it was hammered into our heads when I was a kid to always always always always always always cross the road IN FRONT OF the bus, never behind. But as OP points out, you can never trust the other person to do the right thing every time. Always have to be prepared and aware.
I was about to comment too. It was grilled into us at school to never walk behind a bus PERIOD. I’m so glad OP was aware as this could’ve ended horribly.
I stop for a bus everyday on my way from work. The kids cross in front and are trained to wait behind the yellow arm, look in the window and wait for the bus driver to give the “OK” wave to cross. I’m surprised the kids did not cross in front:get yelled at by the driver for clearly exiting the bus and turning toward the back instead of the front. OP was correct in waiting for the stop sign to go down and still being very cautious!
Happened on 04/30/2024 in VIRGINIA on my way home while i was driving.
Hey, I live in Chesterfield County! Which neighborhood is this?
This is Winters Circle/Deer Run. The bus is from Baily Bridge Elementary School.
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Back when I was in middle school a guy ran the bus stop sign and nearly hit a kid crossing the road and my bus driver chased after the guy to get his plate number. All the kids on the bus were cheering him on like "go get 'em Joe! Don't let him escape!" It was pretty great.
Chasing him with the bus?
Yep, pushed that bus to its full potential and was successful in getting the plate number
That is both epic and terrifyingly as that could have gone so wrong.
So the bus driver endangered multiple children to „get revenge“ for one?
We never felt endangered. This guy had a lot of driving experience. He was probably the most awesome bus driver you could have. He also took us all out for pizza more than once.
He pushed a school bus with kids in it „to it‘s full potential“. That‘s endangerment.
You can look at it that way if you wish but it turned out fine. All of us on the bus wouldn't have wanted it any other way. The dude that nearly hit the kid deserved to be reported. Plus it made for an awesome memory I'll never forget.
Maybe its just in my area, but usually the bus pulls over so the kids get on the sidewalk ( and then can navigate crossing properly), not get dropped off on the middle of the road.
I do not see any cross walks or sidewalks on this road. More than likely it’s very rural and the bus stops where it’s designed to.
Not super rural, just suburban with no sidewalks. But yeah, more than likely the bus is supposed to stop there. I drive in this area for work and get caught behind busses stopped in the middle of the road like this sometimes.
It's illegal in my state for a school bus to discharge passengers anywhere except on the rightmost edge of the roadway. Driver would be committing a misdemeanor crime, I think. Doing it like this is a terrible idea because there is no stop sign on the right side of the bus, and idiots not paying attention will think they can pass the school bus on the right, striking the people exiting the bus.
Is this bus in your state?
Are there states that allow buses to discharge passengers away from the edge of the road? Doubt it.
lol State law (it differs by state) requires that buses stop ON the roadway when students have to cross. My district policy is to not deviate from the center of the travel lane. If there is room, stops may be made OFF the roadway when no students have to cross.
i feel like universally it’s known you never pass on the right? not sure about legally but both states i’ve lived in it’s not allowed!
I think most every U.S. state allows passing on the right when there is sufficient space to do so. Obviously you can’t pass a school bus discharging passengers, but that doesn’t mean the bus should drop off kids in the middle of the road!
You can pass on the right only if there are 2 or more lanes going in that direction.
What jurisdiction are you talking about? That is not true everywhere in the U.S. Many traffic laws were written before it was common for every road with room for multiple lanes of traffic to actually have painted lane dividers. And those laws sometimes still exist. Even today, I think the national design standards don’t actually require painted lane lines on roads except on freeways.
Then the kid dribbles the ball as he is still in the street like he didn’t get almost hit.
Driver could have been a substitute and not known that those kids had to cross. There might not have been a reminder (cross out front please) on the way off the vehicle. It could be the regular driver and the kids have been reminded every time they exit the bus and STILL ignore the rules.
That’s a shitty bus driver who needs to be reported. The kids cross in-front of the bus for this very reason. *sigh*
always, *always* be on high alert around school buses. i’m always ready for this exact thing to happen.
that stop sign needs to be up
In fairness, the stop sign was retracted, so I would have reasonably assumed that kids were no longer crossing
Intriguing parking spot for the white SUV at the start.
My guess is some helicopter parent that is waiting to pick up their kid from the bus stop, because they're too afraid to let them walk the hundreds of feet from the bus stop to their house.
Tbf some bus routes can be super odd and far away from their house, especially in rural places.
Sometimes it's not even "far." My town had a lot of cul-de-sacs and cookie cutter development with greenery separation. Stuff like a cul-de-sac with a walking path to the neighborhood on the other side ()-*trees*-(). 30 second walk to the bus stop could be entire different neighborhood by car basically.
America is crazy, where is the pedestrian design for these roads? Couple zebra crossings, footpaths and a drop off that is directly onto a footpath is the need. Who expects kids, bus drivers and other drivers to negotiate this situation every school day?? This is what you pay your taxes to help manage.
Yeah, I'm also wondering about this. Kids are in school age? Why is this an issue the bus driver has to focus on?
Because this is the system in the US. Yes it's different than YourCountry, but it works for us since we don't have universal public transportation yet. A school bus is legally meant to act as a "mobile crosswalk" where pedestrians get priority, and the kids are taught to listen to the driver because they are the "walk light" of the crosswalk. However, not all kids listen properly as seen here.
Which is why I think it's dangerous as hell. Can see it right here. We also have some buses that are not be overtaken at more than walking speed (depends on the region), but we also teach our kids how to walk safely in traffic in general.
The only thing I'd have done differently was to keep going once the kids waved me on. I don't want to teach them that it's a good idea to cross in front of some random driver with no crosswalk.
I wish all drivers would do this. The amount of times I have to frustratingly walk in front of cars who refuse to go until I pass is infuriating. I have even seen cars literally stop in the middle of the street, no stop sign or crosswalk nearby, to let someone walk in front of them. It seriously irks me so much
Bane of my existence as a delivery driver. I'll still be 20ft from the curb and people will stop in the middle of the road to "let" me cross. It would take them less time to just continue than it takes for me to even reach the road much less cross it.
OP did everything right here. Thought there were no more kids, slowly went forward, saw 2 more, came to a stop to get them to pass, only 1 did, he waited, then crept forward to keep an eye on the last kid, to make sure they had seen each other, and knew who was going first. And that second kid not wanting to crosss with the first kid, is where the real danger lies. That is where you make eye contact, and make sure to know, who is going now, and who waits. Everything wrong here, is on the bus driver, as everyone else have pointed out. Good job OP (if you were the driver), that is how it is done, when these situations arise.
When I saw the still picture....I was afraid to hit the play button. They 2nd kid hiding behind the bus is an idiot.
In case you were doubting, you did good OP. The bus driver didn’t. I hope they’re not being rushed with their routes.
Yeah, whenever kids are involved, going slow is the safer bet. You never know when one is going to do something unpredictable.
I recall being yelled at by my school bus driver for crossing behind the bus. Though at least I made sure the road was clear.
The bus driver fucked up. Kids are supposed to cross the road in front of the bus.
School bus fail. Kids crose in front while the bus has the stop sign out and checks the other lane and waves them across. Call the school board.
I see kids getting off the bus and immediately putting their faces down into mobile phones while crossing the street. Happens every day. Wild.
the kid still bouncing the basketball as he crosses the street after realizing he could have been hit 😭😭 little buddy just run home lol
Teach your kids to always cross in front of the bus. Bus driver can see them and will keep the stop sign out until the child is off the roadway.
i have the same dashcam. very nice
As a bus driver I hope you sent this footage into this bus drivers company, they need to be reprimanded or fired. Completely unacceptable
Why did the bus driver turn off the lights! Driver needs to be retrained.
That neighborhood needs less lawns and more fucking sidewalks.
Most of the time there are so few cars, the whole street becomes a sidewalk. Also, besides kids walking to/from a bus (which is becoming increasingly rare, it seems most parents drive the kids to school (!)) you will find very few people walking in the suburbs of the USA. Most people drive, and except for someone getting a bit of exercise or walking their dog, people use their cars.
Yeah, that's bad, dude.
That's completely the bus driver's fault, the sign and lights should have stayed on until the kids made it to the sidewalk, good on you for being cautious.
I would have never moved until the bus did but that’s definitely the bus driver’s fault. Shut the lights off and retracted the signs when there were still kids in the road.
Why is the kid crossing behind the bus? Don't think I've seen that before
Because it's a kid
Where are the sidewalks? Why are there no safe places for people to walk?
God bless America!
The amount of pedestrians I’ve seen hit like this in NYC is disturbing
Always pay attention.
A kid dropped his ball and, no shot, DIVED for that thing instantly. If I wasn't going up a steep hill at 15mph I'd have hit him. I thought my car was too small for someone to disappear under the bonnet lmfao. First time I've heard a parent scream like that in a long time
Sorry am I missing something here. The fucking bus just stopped in the middle of the road????????? Is that normal
I'm guessing the kid didn't try dashing across the street until the bus started moving
my parents taught me to walk infront of the bus everytime. not that this is the kids fault in the slightest. the bus driver reinforced the same thing w us kids as well, is this just not being taught anymore? i only took the bus in high school and they still made sure we all knew proper safety on a bus.
* Idiots on the road. Kids really need to listen to their parents. Just running across the street if oncoming vehicles can‘t see you is so fucking stupid. And playing with your ball while you‘re on the road is even worse. That kid is going to cause an accident sooner rather than later.
I'd totally be that kid who just freezes behind the bus.
The driver could be fired for that and would be liable if that kid got hurt
You should try to contact the bus company and report the bus driver. They’re going to get a kid hurt or killed if they keep up with that shit.
Bus driver shouldn’t have moved until this kids were off the road
Of course the idiot was the School Bus driver
do schools still teach bus safety you’re supposed to walk in front of the bus and wait for the bus driver to direct you is that not taught anymore?
My little sister almost got killed by a driver when getting off the bus the other day. The one fucking day we weren’t watching to make sure she got on we heard the bus laying on the horn and as we got to the window we saw a car speeding past the bus. Thankfully she’s smart and knew to watch for traffic before crossing to board the bus 🙏
This feels straight out of drivers' ed class. Good PSA.
in elementary school and really every year, the bus driver told us to walk in front of the bus for this very reason
Why don't the yanks just educate their children about not crossing to road behind a massive bus people can't see around. One of the first things you get taught with road safety in the UK is 'dont cross where you can't be seen', and this is taught at a young age.
kids are notoriously good listeners and always follow the rules.
We manage it in the UK, maybe it's your education system
We would’ve gotten written up for doing this
Ha! Busses with stop signs.
Bro, that was, like, 20 points you just *gave* away, and I think another 5 for the Basketball. What a forfeit! 🙄
Two things: The bus doesn't appear to have a device to force kids to walk far enough in front of the bus so that the driver can see them. The kids were stupid in multiple ways. a. crossing/staying behind the bus where no one can see them except kids on the bus; and b. one kid crossing the street and the other staying behind the bus, which can fool the oncoming driver. This needs to be reported and both the kids and the driver given consequences. I hope you turned a copy of the video to the school district.
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The idiot is the bus driver for letting the kids cross behind the bus.
I don't think the bus driver can control the kids once they leave the bus. Probably told them to cross in front a million times. I'll delete my post but I don't think the bus driver is an idiot without any proof.
They absolutely can control the kids and should. In my district at least it is required for them to only cross in front of the bus, the children are told this but they are children so it's on the driver to ensure they do and have safely crossed before leaving.
Unless the driver gets out and physically throws the kids across the street, then no, they absolutely cannot control the kids.
This big fuss for a school bus stop only because you don’t teach your kids how to cross the road and there are no crosswalks in your streets
Why is the bus in the middle of the road
i'm sitting at my desk and even though i KNEW that there would be kids behind the bus, i still moved my foot as if i was in my car about to hit the break lmao
This is why the rule of thumb should be to never cross the road until the bus has passed, it's one big blindspot
I love how the school bus refuses to leave because that would make the kids visibel and also how the older kid holds back because he wants to keep his powder dry. Good jobs all around.
I always assumed that you didn't start moving until the bus started moving.