School Bus Stopping at RailwayTracks | GTAMotorcycle.com

School Bus Stopping at RailwayTracks

fzrcraig

fzrcraig

Well-known member
I was reading the "Pedestrian Crossing" posts and it got me thinking of a rant - why is it that school buses are required to stop at railway crossings and open the door? I can only picture this as a knee-jerk political reaction to an accident in the fifties. Times have changed and if railway signals are that unreliable that they cannot be trusted then we should all be stopping and looking. If we really want to improve the safety of our children riding the bus, increase bus driver training requirements and make the kids wear a damn seat belt.
There, that's better.
 
fzrcraig said:
I was reading the "Pedestrian Crossing" posts and it got me thinking of a rant - why is it that school buses are required to stop at railway crossings and open the door? I can only picture this as a knee-jerk political reaction to an accident in the fifties. Times have changed and if railway signals are that unreliable that they cannot be trusted then we should all be stopping and looking. If we really want to improve the safety of our children riding the bus, increase bus driver training requirements and make the kids wear a damn seat belt.
There, that's better.
Click to expand...

Not all crossings are equipped with a signal. Simple as that
 
Something that happened in 1938, i guess no-one has decided to try and change the law.
 
fzrcraig said:
I was reading the "Pedestrian Crossing" posts and it got me thinking of a rant - why is it that school buses are required to stop at railway crossings and open the door? I can only picture this as a knee-jerk political reaction to an accident in the fifties. Times have changed and if railway signals are that unreliable that they cannot be trusted then we should all be stopping and looking. If we really want to improve the safety of our children riding the bus, increase bus driver training requirements and make the kids wear a damn seat belt.
There, that's better.
Click to expand...

It's not just school buses. It's also public transit and charter buses. Something about minimizing the chances of a mass casualty incident.
 
Jayv said:
Something that happened in 1938, i guess no-one has decided to try and change the law.
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It happens more often than we think, I agree that more training for bus drivers, but companies are too busy undercutting each other to worry about their employees and even the kids.

If you include their "deadhead time" (time it takes to get from the yard to the pick-up points) most schoolbus drivers aren't making much more than minimum wage.



http://www.grandforksherald.com/new...lled-after-train-and-school-bus-crash-updated
 
My guess is that you've never been on a school bus or public transit while they fly over railway crossings. I remember several instances where passengers have literally gone airborne off their seats because the driver failed to stop at railway crossings.

The whole opening the door, is the equivalent of you putting down your foot when you come to a stop sign or before a red light right turn. It shows that you've made a complete stop.

Generally if there are no railway crossing signals; there would have to be a stop sign, which it appears in that other incident; bus driver rolled through the stop-sign.

I agree with the seat-belts, but still caution that all buses should still come to a complete stop at railway tracks or any other hazard on the road that will jeopardize the safety of passengers.
 
I have no issue with buses stopping at tracks. Gives me a chance to pass em....


...seriously though, non issue.
 
A bus stopping adds at least 0.005 seconds to the average commute this travesty needs to be stopped immediately...lol first world problems.

Griff2 is correct in many many parts of rural ontario there are no signals and no stop sign at level crossings. But yet somehow country folks seemed to have figured out that they should stop if there is 100 tons of locomotive coming at you..lol
 
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Jayv said:
Something that happened in 1938, i guess no-one has decided to try and change the law.
Click to expand...


Didn't happen in 1938 what about the people killed in Ottawa a couple of years ago when the driver ran the signal and hit the train. If he had been forced to stop and open the doors those passngers may still be alive today.
 
hedo2002 said:
Didn't happen in 1938 what about the people killed in Ottawa a couple of years ago when the driver ran the signal and hit the train. If he had been forced to stop and open the doors those passngers may still be alive today.
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Do some research and read up about why the law has existed since 1938.

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Didn't say the law wasn't created in 1938, merely pointing out to the pareson who asked why it still exists today. As well as your comment that "no one has tried to update or change the law" I gave an example of why it still remains, and hasn't been updated or changed. Bus crash in Ottawa.

Jayv said:
Do some research and read up about why the law has existed since 1938.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
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fzrcraig said:
I was reading the "Pedestrian Crossing" posts and it got me thinking of a rant - why is it that school buses are required to stop at railway crossings and open the door? I can only picture this as a knee-jerk political reaction to an accident in the fifties. Times have changed and if railway signals are that unreliable that they cannot be trusted then we should all be stopping and looking. If we really want to improve the safety of our children riding the bus, increase bus driver training requirements and make the kids wear a damn seat belt.
There, that's better.
Click to expand...
I see school and city buses run red lights all the time. Almost always speeding. There is a light near my house that I have had a bus jump the green twice at now, too. Makes me glad I don't have children.
 
I drive school a school bus and we stop at crossings because the light systems are NOT fool proof. In my town the light will be on all day at times cuz they're working on the tracks for example...and the company I work for gives me descresion to decide if it is safe to go under these circumstances.

What really needs to happen is more G class driver education on stopping for our red lights and stop sign when kids are crossing the road.

And as for bus driver education I do defensive driving, road safety courses, accessibility courses as well as driver improvement courses yearly!! Some 2ce a year. So I get my education. And as for bus drivers running red traffic lights...they should be reprimanded for they're actions! Rant complete!?

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