School Bus Stop Arm Before a Passive Railroad Crossing
At 3:25 p.m., you are westbound on a two-lane road with a posted 35 mph school-zone limit. The school-zone beacon is flashing. A school bus ahead in your lane activates its amber lights, then its red lights and stop arm. You are about 90 feet behind the bus. Between your vehicle and the bus, a passive railroad crossing has a crossbuck and a white stop line; the bus has already crossed the tracks and stopped 40 feet beyond them to unload children. The road is straight, visibility is clear, and no train is approaching. Your lane has no turn lane or median. The bus's red lights continue flashing, and children are still visible near the bus door. A following driver begins to pass you on the left.
1. Must you stop for the bus even though it is beyond the railroad crossing? Where should your vehicle stop?
Read the worked answer
Yes. This is an undivided two-lane road, so the bus's flashing red lights and extended stop arm require traffic in both directions to stop. The fact that the bus has crossed the tracks does not excuse you. Because the bus is stopped 40 feet beyond the crossing, you should stop before the white stop line and short of the rails, not between the tracks and the bus. Stopping on or too close to the tracks would create a separate railroad hazard. Remain stopped until the red lights stop flashing, the stop arm retracts, and the children are clear, then proceed only after checking that the crossing is clear.
2. What should you do about the driver passing on the left, and what if that driver's passing forces you to choose between stopping on the tracks and moving forward?
Read the worked answer
The passing driver is violating the school-bus stop law and your stopped position. Do not wave the driver on, do not move into the bus's unloading zone, and do not assume the pass makes it safe for you to proceed. Keep your vehicle stopped before the tracks. If the passing vehicle creates pressure, the safest choice is still not to stop on the rails; you should already be stopped short of the stop line with enough room. If you were not yet stopped and a pass developed, slow and stop before the crossing rather than cross the tracks to avoid the passing car. Report the pass if you can do so safely later.
3. If the bus had stopped with its rear wheels still on the crossing, how would that change your stopping point?
Read the worked answer
You would still stop for the red lights, but you would stop farther back before the crossing to leave the tracks clear and to avoid being trapped if a train approached. You must not enter the crossing while the bus is blocking it, even if the bus's stop arm is out. Wait until the bus clears the crossing, the red lights stop, and the children are clear. If the bus is stopped partly on the tracks, that is an additional emergency condition, but it does not give you permission to stop on the rails or to pass the bus. Keep a buffer before the stop line and be ready to use hazard lights if traffic behind needs warning.