HomeFairfax General ForumArrest/Ticket SearchWiki newPictures/VideosChatArticlesLinksAbout
Fairfax County General :  Fairfax Underground fairfax underground logo
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
passing stopped school bus
Posted by: stacy felti ()
Date: April 28, 2015 10:08AM

I am trying to find info about passing stopped school buses. The situation which is gray is when a bus is stopped In the neighborhood on a road facing east. We approach on a different road which runs perpendicular behind the bus.

Do we need to stop? My kid is asking because when he leaves for school the bus is usually picking up other kids.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: No car insurance ()
Date: April 28, 2015 10:43AM

If you are an illegal you do not have to stop. Everyone else, yes, you have to stop.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: ill tell ya ()
Date: April 28, 2015 11:15AM

Sounds like you do not have to stop.

Post the name of the roads and we can take a better look

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: pmhtd ()
Date: April 28, 2015 12:01PM

If I'm understanding you correctly, no, you do not have to stop. You are behind the bus. If you were at an intersection right in front of the bus I'd say you should wait (though most people don't). But behind it? You're in the clear.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: kev ()
Date: April 28, 2015 01:59PM

How far is the perpendicular road from the stopped school bus? Less then 30 feet or so? Some drivers are real uptight and will report you at the drop of a dime.

Just don't be one of those drivers who stop 100 feet in front of the bus, with its Stop sign out.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: No ()
Date: April 28, 2015 02:06PM

The law in VA says if there is a divide\median between the bus and car you don't have to stop.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: Bill.N. ()
Date: April 28, 2015 03:10PM

If I understand your situation correctly, you can cross in front of or behind a stopped school bus without being considered to be passing the bus, in Virginia at least. You might run into trouble with some other traffic law though, depending on the situation. That is probably where the "how close" comes into play.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: Ralph Pootawn ()
Date: April 28, 2015 04:07PM

stacy felti Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am trying to find info about passing stopped
> school buses. The situation which is gray is when
> a bus is stopped In the neighborhood on a road
> facing east. We approach on a different road which
> runs perpendicular behind the bus.
>
> Do we need to stop? My kid is asking because when
> he leaves for school the bus is usually picking up
> other kids.


No, you dont have to stop. In fact, you should gun it and rev your engine as you pass.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: 4 Way Stop ()
Date: April 28, 2015 04:26PM

If I understand you correctly you are not an illegal. So yes, you have to stop.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: Greybeard ()
Date: April 28, 2015 08:13PM

Favorite story from traffic court (I was there because I got hit and the other driver was charged--honest!):

Woman charged with passing stopped school bus with its lights on. A cop was sitting there next to the bus when she passed it.

She pleads "not guilty".

The judge looks incredulously at her and asks, "How are you not guilty?"

She replies, "Because I didn't see the bus!"

I think that got her a longer suspension than she would have gotten otherwise.

I LOLed.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: stacy felti ()
Date: April 28, 2015 08:53PM

Thanks for the replies.

This is what i was talking about.

http://i.imgur.com/jk3HSq8.png

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: Think About It ()
Date: April 28, 2015 09:01PM

stacy felti Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for the replies.
>
> This is what i was talking about.
>
> http://i.imgur.com/jk3HSq8.png


You must stop for stopped school buses with flashing red lights and an extended stop sign when you approach from any direction on a highway, private road or school driveway. Stop and remain stopped until all persons are clear and the bus moves again. You must also stop if the bus is loading or unloading passengers and the signals are not on. You do not have to stop if you are traveling in the opposite direction on a roadway with a median or barrier dividing the road and the bus is on the opposite side of the median or barrier.

If there is no median, and since you're basically passing the bus even though you're behind it, yes, you should stop.

Think about it, if a kid was running for the bus and ran across the street labeled "me," you're going to hit the kid!

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: Run Em Down! ()
Date: April 28, 2015 09:21PM

Think About It Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> stacy felti Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks for the replies.
> >
> > This is what i was talking about.
> >
> > http://i.imgur.com/jk3HSq8.png
>
>
> You must stop for stopped school buses with
> flashing red lights and an extended stop sign when
> you approach from any direction

You're not approaching the bus. It's not in the intersection, and it is on a different road from you.


> Think about it, if a kid was running for the bus
> and ran across the street labeled "me," you're
> going to hit the kid!


Not a bad thought, but I wonder if you can get a ticket for randomly stopping your car and blocking traffic there.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: yhnny ()
Date: April 28, 2015 09:29PM

Think About It Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> stacy felti Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks for the replies.
> >
> > This is what i was talking about.
> >
> > http://i.imgur.com/jk3HSq8.png
>
>
> You must stop for stopped school buses with
> flashing red lights and an extended stop sign when
> you approach from any direction on a highway,
> private road or school driveway. Stop and remain
> stopped until all persons are clear and the bus
> moves again. You must also stop if the bus is
> loading or unloading passengers and the signals
> are not on. You do not have to stop if you are
> traveling in the opposite direction on a roadway
> with a median or barrier dividing the road and the
> bus is on the opposite side of the median or
> barrier.
>
> If there is no median, and since you're basically
> passing the bus even though you're behind it, yes,
> you should stop.
>
> Think about it, if a kid was running for the bus
> and ran across the street labeled "me," you're
> going to hit the kid!


He's not approaching the bus. He is crossing the road behind it. He does not need to stop.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: Home D Pedo ()
Date: April 28, 2015 10:01PM

If a kid can be running to the bus, I would stop (no median situation). Them little snots can appear out of no where.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: ff ()
Date: April 28, 2015 10:24PM

Careful with passing buses even with a small median. I read about a guy who got pulled over for passing when there was a small concrete curb median.

Went to court and the judge admitted he could see how the guy would think it was a median, but it wasn't. Guilty and had to pay the fine.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Date: April 29, 2015 01:18PM

Hey, rickie, my money metal bus driver always sounds his hurting horn even when I pass on a perpendicular street, donk. It's a show.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: wcwbh ()
Date: April 29, 2015 11:17PM

ff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Careful with passing buses even with a small
> median. I read about a guy who got pulled over for
> passing when there was a small concrete curb median.

In Virginia?

> Went to court and the judge admitted he could see
> how the guy would think it was a median, but it
> wasn't. Guilty and had to pay the fine.

The law doesn't say "median". It says "physical barrier or unpaved area".

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: FFX DMV Employee ()
Date: April 29, 2015 11:45PM

You must stop, regarless of median. The law is if you see blinking red lights and then are in a position from which you can see the stop sign that comes out from the bus, you must stop wherever you are. Otherwise the fine is $320.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: Bryan Adamson ()
Date: April 30, 2015 03:12AM

Directly from the Code of Virginia:

"§ 46.2-859. Passing a stopped school bus; prima facie evidence.

A person driving a motor vehicle shall stop such vehicle when approaching, from any direction, any school bus which is stopped on any highway, private road or school driveway for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, the elderly, or mentally or physically handicapped persons, and shall remain stopped until all the persons are clear of the highway, private road or school driveway and the bus is put in motion; any person violating the foregoing is guilty of reckless driving.

The driver of a vehicle, however, need not stop when approaching a school bus if the school bus is stopped on the other roadway of a divided highway, on an access road, or on a driveway when the other roadway, access road, or driveway is separated from the roadway on which he is driving by a physical barrier or an unpaved area. The driver of a vehicle also need not stop when approaching a school bus which is loading or discharging passengers from or onto property immediately adjacent to a school if the driver is directed by a law-enforcement officer or other duly authorized uniformed school crossing guard to pass the school bus. This section shall apply to school buses which are equipped with warning devices prescribed in § 46.2-1090 and are painted yellow with the words "School Bus" in black letters at least eight inches high on the front and rear thereof. Only school buses which are painted yellow and equipped with the required lettering and warning devices shall be identified as school buses.

The testimony of the school bus driver, the supervisor of school buses or a law-enforcement officer that the vehicle was yellow, conspicuously marked as a school bus, and equipped with warning devices as prescribed in § 46.2-1090 is prima facie evidence that the vehicle is a school bus.

(Code 1950, §§ 46-209, 46-209.1; 1950, p. 880; 1952, c. 671; 1954, cc. 225, 401, 458; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-190; 1960, c. 510; 1964, c. 266; 1966, c. 694; 1968, c. 575; 1970, c. 521; 1974, cc. 222, 455; 1975, c. 633; 1978, c. 27; 1979, c. 86; 1981, cc. 333, 585; 1985, c. 148; 1989, c. 727; 2001, c. 126; 2002, c. 541; 2011, cc. 325, 326.)"

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: Frogger ()
Date: April 30, 2015 03:27AM

I don't bother stopping, the kids will see you. Besides, it's fun to see the look of pure terror on the kid's faces as you swerve in between them heading for the bus.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: regular guy ()
Date: April 30, 2015 07:23AM

FFX DMV Employee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You must stop, regarless of median. The law is if
> you see blinking red lights and then are in a
> position from which you can see the stop sign that
> comes out from the bus, you must stop wherever you
> are. Otherwise the fine is $320.


No. "A physical barrier" means barrier to driving, not to seeing. A raised median is a barrier to motorized vehicles, otherwise you'd see people driving over them every day.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: regular guy ()
Date: April 30, 2015 07:24AM

... and I'm pretty sure you can see the lights on a bus across an unpaved area from you, and you don't stop for that either.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: mark j ()
Date: May 01, 2015 07:59PM

median or no median...if you don't stop, I'll snitch on you!!!!!! can't wait...
go ahead and try...

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: dumbass libturdz ()
Date: May 01, 2015 09:36PM

A divided highway can have a suicide lane which is paved and you DO NOT need to stop if heading in the opposite direction of the bus. I got this question wrong on the drivers test because I said you had to stop.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: TxmXJ ()
Date: May 01, 2015 09:48PM

Damn people! Learn to read the law. It's online you know. Knowlege is power.

https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-859

§ 46.2-859. Passing a stopped school bus; prima facie evidence.

A person driving a motor vehicle shall stop such vehicle when approaching, from any direction, any school bus which is stopped on any highway, private road or school driveway for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, the elderly, or mentally or physically handicapped persons, and shall remain stopped until all the persons are clear of the highway, private road or school driveway and the bus is put in motion; any person violating the foregoing is guilty of reckless driving.

The driver of a vehicle, however, need not stop when approaching a school bus if the school bus is stopped on the other roadway of a divided highway, on an access road, or on a driveway when the other roadway, access road, or driveway is separated from the roadway on which he is driving by a physical barrier or an unpaved area. The driver of a vehicle also need not stop when approaching a school bus which is loading or discharging passengers from or onto property immediately adjacent to a school if the driver is directed by a law-enforcement officer or other duly authorized uniformed school crossing guard to pass the school bus. This section shall apply to school buses which are equipped with warning devices prescribed in § 46.2-1090 and are painted yellow with the words "School Bus" in black letters at least eight inches high on the front and rear thereof. Only school buses which are painted yellow and equipped with the required lettering and warning devices shall be identified as school buses.

The testimony of the school bus driver, the supervisor of school buses or a law-enforcement officer that the vehicle was yellow, conspicuously marked as a school bus, and equipped with warning devices as prescribed in § 46.2-1090 is prima facie evidence that the vehicle is a school bus.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: duXjY ()
Date: May 01, 2015 09:49PM

dumbass libturdz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A divided highway can have a suicide lane which is
> paved and you DO NOT need to stop if heading in
> the opposite direction of the bus. I got this
> question wrong on the drivers test because I said
> you had to stop.

The test was wrong then. You will be stopped, ticked and be found guilty. There must be a physical barrier (see above). The test will not be admissible in court.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: dumfuq ()
Date: May 01, 2015 09:50PM

^^^read the thread dumfuq!

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: JohnPaulFlaime ()
Date: May 01, 2015 11:27PM

Wow, that hurting bus driver was money, ricky, and, worse, he was right. What a donkey dick.

How in the fuck are we supposed to notice a money metal school bus with its lights on in a perpendicular intersection, donk?

Virginia has some stupid-ass laws.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: PIKLAW ()
Date: May 02, 2015 10:34AM

Courtesy of PIKLAW.com:

CHECK OUT VA CODE SECTIONS 46.2-844 and 46.2-859 -

§ 46.2-844. Passing stopped school buses; penalty; prima facie evidence.

A. The driver of a motor vehicle approaching from any direction a clearly marked school bus which is stopped on any highway, private road or school driveway for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, the elderly, or mentally or physically handicapped persons, who, in violation of § 46.2-859, fails to stop and remain stopped until all such persons are clear of the highway, private road or school driveway, is subject to a civil penalty of $250 and any prosecution shall be instituted and conducted in the same manner as prosecutions for traffic infractions.

A prosecution or proceeding under § 46.2-859 is a bar to a prosecution or proceeding under this section for the same act and a prosecution or proceeding under this section is a bar to a prosecution or proceeding under § 46.2-859 for the same act.

In any prosecution for which a summons charging a violation of this section was issued within ten days of the alleged violation, proof that the motor vehicle described in the summons was operated in violation of this section, together with proof that the defendant was at the time of such violation the registered owner of the vehicle, as required by Chapter 6 (§ 46.2-600 et seq.) of this title shall give rise to a rebuttable presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle was the person who operated the vehicle at the place where, and for the time during which, the violation occurred.

The testimony of the school bus driver, the supervisor of school buses or a law-enforcement officer that the vehicle was yellow, conspicuously marked as a school bus, and equipped with warning devices as prescribed in § 46.2-1090 is prima facie evidence that the vehicle is a school bus.

B. A locality may, by ordinance, authorize the school division of the locality to install and operate a video-monitoring system in or on the school buses operated by the division or to contract with a private vendor to do so on behalf of the school division for the purpose of recording violations of subsection A. Such ordinance may direct that any civil penalty levied for a violation of subsection A shall be payable to the local school division.

For purposes of this subsection, "video-monitoring system" means a system with one or more camera sensors and computers installed and operated on a school bus that produces live digital and recorded video of motor vehicles being operated in violation of § 46.2-859. All such systems installed shall, at a minimum, produce a recorded image of the license plate and shall record the activation status of at least one warning device as prescribed in § 46.2-1090 and the time, date, and location of the vehicle when the image is recorded.

§ 46.2-859. Passing a stopped school bus; prima facie evidence.

A person driving a motor vehicle shall stop such vehicle when approaching, from any direction, any school bus which is stopped on any highway, private road or school driveway for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, the elderly, or mentally or physically handicapped persons, and shall remain stopped until all the persons are clear of the highway, private road or school driveway and the bus is put in motion; any person violating the foregoing is guilty of reckless driving. The driver of a vehicle, however, need not stop when approaching a school bus if the school bus is stopped on the other roadway of a divided highway, on an access road, or on a driveway when the other roadway, access road, or driveway is separated from the roadway on which he is driving by a physical barrier or an unpaved area. The driver of a vehicle also need not stop when approaching a school bus which is loading or discharging passengers from or onto property immediately adjacent to a school if the driver is directed by a law-enforcement officer or other duly authorized uniformed school crossing guard to pass the school bus. This section shall apply to school buses which are equipped with warning devices prescribed in § 46.2-1090 and are painted yellow with the words "School Bus" in black letters at least eight inches high on the front and rear thereof. Only school buses which are painted yellow and equipped with the required lettering and warning devices shall be identified as school buses.

The testimony of the school bus driver, the supervisor of school buses or a law-enforcement officer that the vehicle was yellow, conspicuously marked as a school bus, and equipped with warning devices as prescribed in § 46.2-1090 is prima facie evidence that the vehicle is a school bus.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: passing stopped school bus
Posted by: Gunlover ()
Date: May 02, 2015 04:11PM

Yea OP that stop sign camera got you. Matter of time before that letter arrive and that warrant is filed against you.

Never Run Out of Ammo

Guns Don't Kill People. People Kill People

Them or You

The two most important days in your life are the day your were born and and the day you find out why

Options: ReplyQuote


Your Name: 
Your Email (Optional): 
Subject: 
Attach a file
  • No file can be larger than 75 MB
  • All files together cannot be larger than 300 MB
  • 30 more file(s) can be attached to this message
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically.
 **     **   ******   **     **  **    **  **     ** 
 **     **  **    **  **     **  **   **    **   **  
 **     **  **        **     **  **  **      ** **   
 *********  **        **     **  *****        ***    
 **     **  **        **     **  **  **      ** **   
 **     **  **    **  **     **  **   **    **   **  
 **     **   ******    *******   **    **  **     ** 
This forum powered by Phorum.