Ok so I can’t get this out of my head nothing bad happened but it could of and I don’t know what I should of done. So I was driving delivering some food for one of the apps. I was on a four lane road with no median. Both me and a school bus are traveling the same direction, the bus in the left lane and me in the right lane. There are three cars behind the bus in the left lane I am coming up from the right. I was going about 35mph in 30 so there is that. The bus stops and I couldn’t see a stop sign out cause I am in the right lane and busses stop signs are on the left. I don’t think the lights were on or I thought he was turning it happened really quick. All of a sudden the bus is stopped and the door are opening to the right lane of traffic. I slam on the brakes, not hard enough to skid or anything like that but I come to an immediate stop. I come to a stop in slightly across the middle of the bus. I see the little girl about to get out of the doors and the door half open then close. The bus driver starts honking. We are at an intersection so I pull off right into the intersection. The bus driver eventually lets the kids off. I’m at the intersection he pulls forward. I’m expecting to get an ear full of it. All he says really kindly is hey be more careful. I’m of course apologizing like crazy. I’m a little shaken of course he drives off I drive off. The arm thing hadn’t extended by the time I had stopped I truly believe the stop signs weren’t out by the time I could have seen them in the lane I was in. Is it normal for buses to stop and let kids out with an open lane to their right? I feel like I am really cautious around school busses I encounter them frequently where I live in the US. I will be even more cautious now. I know some have cameras to catch people that pass them with the stop signs out, so we will see if this has any legal implications. Am I the Asshole or is it weird or even bad the bus did not get in the right lane and drop the kids off at the curb? Really would like some feedback and this happened in Texas if anyone knows the applicable laws.
If I understand this correctly the bus was letting kids off into traffic in the middle of the street?
The bus was in the left lane of the road with two lanes going in either direction so four lanes all together. I was coming up to the bus in the right lane so there was a whole lane between the bus and the curb.
I don’t understand why the bus wasn’t in the right lane
My immediate question is why would a bus be in the left lane when dropping off children. When there are 4 lanes of traffic (2 lanes going each way) shouldn’t the bus be in the lane closest to the side of the road (which would be the RIGHT lane in the US) that way things like what happened in your post DON’T happen? To be in the left lane means that the kids have to walk in front of cars (that are driving in the same direction as the bus) in order to get to safety on the side of the road. At least oncoming traffic would be able to clearly see the bus’s lights and stop sign…but traffic travelling in the same direction wouldn’t be able to unless they were behind the bus.
NAH
To be an a h you would have to have done this even somewhat intentionally. Instead, you were paying attention, still didn’t know, stopped as soon as you did know, and were quite shaken by the mistake. That isn’t a h territory. That’s good person didn’t predict what was coming territory.
As for the driver letting kids off *into* lanes of traffic…. That’s pretty wild. We’ve all seen the tragic videos where some glassbowl blows by a school bus intentionally. If one of those people came along while kids were exiting… Let’s just all hope that never occurs.
I understand why you’re thinking about it, that would scare the crap out of me, too. But if your description was accurate there was no way for you to know the driver’s intention.
ETA If we knew the bus driver was doing this to be lazy, then total n t a and the bus driver is. But we have drivers where I am who do some dangerous stuff because the district has told them to and they have to stay on schedule to keep their jobs. Totally wrong attitude with kids on board, but complaining hasn’t stopped it.
I would say that the bus driver letting children off in the middle of the road rather than at the side of the road/curb make them an AH…
on a road where there are multiple lanes of traffic travelling in the same direction, a bus should be in the lane that is closest to the curb when picking up or dropping off kids, otherwise it’s an accident just waiting to happen.
Do you have a dash cam or remember the bus? I would call the school district and let them know what happened. You were not in the wrong, but the bus driver was the AH!! They should not be dropping kids off unless they are in the right lane and pulled up to the curb or side of the road. Kids shouldn’t be exiting the bus into another lane for traffic. Whoever the bus driver was needs to be fired / re-educated on off boarding safety.
NAH but you gotta get a grip on those nerves. You will make small mistakes, you will not always be 100% perfect and see everything, that’s just life. How you then deal with it is important, like was slamming the brakes really safe in that instance or did you create more opportunity for accidents? Being careful is good, being panicked is not.
NTA that is wild. It’s wild that the doors were opening when you were clearly still driving too. The bus driver is negligent on all accounts, they def forgot to move over in time and made it your problem.
In single lane traffic it happens often that oncoming cars don’t see/cant stop in time and go right by. It is on the bus driver to make sure they’re letting the kids out into a safe environment and cars aren’t screeching to a halt. You wait until traffic has stopped to open the doors.
(Like yeah obv you’re supposed to stop for buses, legally and morally, but that doesn’t mean the bus driver can let kids out into traffic blindly. Especially in such a dangerous situation.. across MULTIPLE LANE traffic)
oh man I’m revving myself up just thinking about it. That’s so dangerous! You probably didn’t see it in time because he forgot the stop there and impromptu had to let the kid out into traffic instead of backtracking. That’s probs why you didn’t see the flashing yellow lights telling you a stop was coming up. HE FORGOT!
Hey there, close calls can definitely shake you up. From what you’ve described, it sounds like a tricky situation. Communication while driving is crucial, and if the bus didn’t show any signal, it’s not entirely your fault. Be a bit more alert and always expect the unexpected on the road. Try to give a school bus a wide berth in the future – better safe than sorry. Definitely NTA.
None of this makes sense.
No way bus stops in the left lane and lets kids off. Nope. Never happened. That’s insane.
Secondly, IF you are driving next to the bus, it doesn’t just stop. It slows down and you drive past before it stops. That’s physics.
It’s all BS so YTA for making this up.
I’ll go with light ESH.
You should have stopped when you saw the bus had slowed and stopped, but the bus driver is majorly TA for letting kids off in the left lane.
Just didn’t happen though did it. No need to lie for a bit of engagement mate