Flashing Red Lights on a Four-Lane Road
On a dry October morning you are eastbound on a four-lane undivided arterial in a Newfoundland town - two lanes each way separated only by a painted double yellow line, with no raised median and no barrier. The limit is 50 km/h and you are in the right lane at 45 km/h. Ahead, a school bus in the westbound curb lane has stopped with its red lights flashing and its stop arm extended; children are crossing from the far side. A car ahead of you in the left lane slows to about 30 km/h and then continues through without stopping. Behind you, a taxi is following at roughly eight metres. The bus is about 40 m ahead. A transit shelter and a parked delivery van sit on your right shoulder, and a cyclist is filtering up on your right through the gaps.
1. Must you stop? Explain the reasoning that separates this road from one where you would not have to.
Read the worked answer
Yes, you stop. The rule turns on the physical separation of the roadways, not on the number of lanes: with only a painted double yellow line, traffic in both directions must stop for a school bus showing flashing red lights and an extended stop arm. A raised median or a physical barrier is what would relieve the opposite direction, and there is neither here. A painted centre turn lane, a wide painted median or a row of cones does not count. The car in the left lane continuing through is irrelevant to your obligation - another driver's mistake does not dissolve the rule, and children crossing are exactly the unpredictable hazard the rule exists to control. Following that car through would make you the second offender, not the innocent one.
2. Where exactly do you stop, and when may you move again?
Read the worked answer
Stop in your lane, well back from the bus - at least five to six metres, roughly a bus length and a half from the extended stop arm - so children have a clear sightline to your car and you are not crowding the crossing point. Do not creep forward, do not pass on the right using the shoulder past the delivery van, and do not wave children across; you are not directing traffic. Stay stopped until the red lights stop flashing and the stop arm folds, and only then release the brake. A green light, a wave from the bus driver, or a gap in the children does not release you early. Keep watching for the late arrival who runs, and check your right mirror for the filtering cyclist before you move off.
3. How do you handle the taxi following at eight metres while you slow for the bus?
Read the worked answer
Signal your stop early and progressively - hold the brake pedal so the lights are on well before you need to shed much speed, and once stationary put the hazard lights on, because a taxi eight metres back at 45 km/h needs to see a reason to stop rather than a car that has simply arrived. Slow gradually so the follower has reaction time; a sharp stop at 45 km/h with that gap invites a rear-end that pushes you toward the children. Leave extra room ahead of you as an escape route. If the taxi swings out to pass on the left, do not chase it, block it or flash it through - note it, stay put, and check the mirror again before you move off, because it may be alongside when the lights go out.