School Bus, a Center Turn Lane, and a Second Train
At 7:40 a.m. in a town north of Pocatello, you are eastbound on a five-lane street: two lanes each way with a painted center two-way left-turn lane. Ahead, a school bus going your direction stops with red lights flashing and the stop arm extended; children are stepping off. You stop. Ten minutes later, on a rural two-lane road, you approach a railroad crossing marked only by a crossbuck and a white STOP sign on a post, with a small sign reading 2 TRACKS. A freight train has just cleared the crossing, moving right to left, and the last car has passed. There are no gates and no lights. Your passenger says to go because the train is gone. That afternoon, at 3:10, you pass a school zone signed 20 MPH with beacons flashing under a plaque reading 7:30-8:30 AM AND 3:00-4:30 PM; no children are visible, and a pickup is tailgating you closely.
1. Were you required to stop for the school bus? How would the answer change if the street had a raised median instead of a painted center turn lane?
Read the worked answer
You were required to stop. A painted two-way left-turn lane is not a physical separation - it is just paint with a shared turn bay in it. On a street divided only by paint, traffic traveling both directions must stop for a school bus displaying red lights and its stop arm, and must remain stopped until the lights stop flashing and the arm retracts.
If a raised median or a physical barrier divided the roadway, opposing traffic would not have to stop; only traffic on the bus's side of the divider must. The distinction is physical separation, not the number of lanes or the presence of a turn bay. Two common errors:
- Treating a five-lane street as "divided." It is not, and drivers who pass a stopped bus across a painted center lane in Idaho are committing a serious violation with heavy penalties.
- Rolling early. Do not move when the arm starts folding or when the last child appears to be on the sidewalk - wait for the red lights to stop flashing. Children double back.
Also watch the children themselves: a child who drops something in the roadway may re-enter it after the bus begins moving.
2. At the crossbuck-and-STOP-sign crossing marked 2 TRACKS, the freight train has just cleared. What exactly is required before you cross?
Read the worked answer
Stop, then verify both tracks. A crossbuck means yield to trains; with a STOP sign added, a full stop is mandatory - roughly 15 to 50 feet from the nearest rail, close enough to see down the track but not so close that a mirror or bumper overhangs the rail.
Why "the train is gone" is not enough:
- The 2 TRACKS sign means a second train can approach from the opposite direction, hidden behind the first. A train moving right to left on the near track masks anything coming from the left on the far track, and you will not hear it over the first train's noise.
- The last car passing tells you about one track only. Wait until the crossing is fully clear and both sight lines are open, then look, listen with the window down, and cross without stopping.
- Do not stop on the tracks. If traffic on the far side is backed up, stay behind the stop line until there is room to clear the crossing completely. Shift gears and use the heater before you enter the crossing area, not while on the rails.
Proceed only when you are certain both tracks are clear - a few seconds of patience against a train is not a close call, it is the whole point of the sign.
3. At 3:10 the beacons are flashing, no children are visible, and a pickup is tailgating. What governs your speed, and how do you handle the tailgater?
Read the worked answer
The 20 MPH limit governs. A school zone speed limit tied to flashing beacons under a posted time plaque is a regulatory limit that applies whenever the beacons are flashing during those hours. The standard is not "children visible right now" - children are frequently out of sight behind parked cars, hedges, or buses, and the zone exists because they appear without warning.
Handling the situation:
- Do not speed up to placate the tailgater. A few seconds of their impatience is not worth a child's life, and a rear-end collision at 20 is survivable in a way that a pedestrian strike at 35 is not.
- Create a buffer ahead by slowing early and smoothly for the zone, so you are not braking abruptly with a truck close behind.
- Let them pass when a safe spot appears, or simply maintain the limit; if they are close enough to be a real hazard, pull over when convenient rather than escalating.
Remember the basic rule applies outside the beacon hours too: whenever children are present - 2:45, 4:45, or a weekend event - a speed reasonable for the conditions is required regardless of whether the lights are on.