The Stop on a Crest With No Shoulder
Your afternoon route includes a rural two-lane road with a 45 mph limit. One stop is on the far side of a slight crest, and the designated stop point has a narrow gravel shoulder only about four feet wide before a ditch. There are five students at this stop, two of them in first grade. Traffic is moderate and includes a logging truck that passes this point regularly. Today it is windy and the gravel is loose. You have already activated your amber warning lights as you approach. A car is following you closely at about two car lengths.
1. Walk through your loading sequence from amber lights to door closing, and identify where the risk is highest.
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Sequence:
- Amber lights on well before the stop to give following traffic warning - you already did this.
- Check mirrors for the tailgater. A car at two car lengths cannot stop if you brake hard, so begin slowing early and gradually and tap the brakes to signal.
- Stop with the bus positioned so students do not have to enter the roadway, using the gravel shoulder as far as it safely allows - but do not put the right wheels so close to the ditch that the bus could slide in loose gravel.
- Red lights and stop arm out only when stopped. Confirm the stop arm deployed and the red lights are flashing.
- Count and watch the students cross; the two first-graders need to be visually tracked individually, not as a group.
- Close the door, secure the stop arm, cancel red lights, then re-check mirrors before moving.
Highest risk: the combination of the crest, the tailgater, and the narrow shoulder. The crest limits how far following traffic can see your red lights, and the tailgater may not stop. The students crossing from the far side are exposed to any vehicle that comes over the crest.
2. The tailgating car shows no sign of slowing as you prepare to stop. What do you do?
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Do not stop in the roadway in front of a vehicle that cannot stop. Options, in order of preference:
- Delay the stop and continue to a safer location - past the crest where you are visible, or where a wider shoulder exists - if the students can be kept safely on the shoulder and you can signal them to wait. Use the horn or a hand signal only if it does not create confusion.
- If you must stop, stop as far right as the shoulder allows and keep the students on the shoulder, not in the lane, until traffic is controlled.
- Never wave students across while an approaching vehicle is uncontrolled.
After the run, report the stop location to your supervisor: a stop just over a crest with a four-foot shoulder is a route-design problem, not just a today problem. The exam point is that the driver's duty to protect students can require not executing the stop exactly as scripted.
3. How does the loose gravel change your stopping and starting technique at this stop?
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Loose gravel reduces traction in both directions:
- Stopping: brake earlier and more gently; hard braking on gravel risks a skid and can pull the bus toward the ditch on the right. Aim to be nearly stopped before the wheels reach the gravel.
- Starting: accelerate very gradually so the drive wheels do not spin, and keep the steering straight until you are back on pavement. Turning while accelerating on gravel is where a bus can slide.
- Positioning: keep enough distance from the ditch edge that a slight slide does not put a wheel off the shoulder.
Also re-check the mirrors before pulling out - gravel dust and a low sun angle can hide an approaching vehicle, and the logging truck's speed means you need a large gap.