Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
Dec 2nd 2008, 5:23 pm
#46
WTF?
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Re: Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
Dec 2nd 2008, 5:24 pm
#47
Unmitigated Gall
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Dec 2nd 2008, 5:25 pm
#48
Not dead yet
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Dec 2nd 2008, 9:03 pm
#49
Carmel Indiana
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Re: Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
You were doing 40mph in a 40mph zone in the rain with slippery (as you described them) road conditions - with a cop behind you.
You drive past a bus with it's flashers on, and you haven't got the required licence, considering your resident in the states.
Firstly, 40 in a 40 in slippy conditions will lead to exactly what happened to you, the 40mph aint a min, it's a max - no cop will pull you for driving under the speed limit in the rain.
The court will think you didn't know you had to stop for the bus, as you havn't bothered to take the NYS driving test, which is why they insist you take one once you become resident.
You drive past a bus with it's flashers on, and you haven't got the required licence, considering your resident in the states.
Firstly, 40 in a 40 in slippy conditions will lead to exactly what happened to you, the 40mph aint a min, it's a max - no cop will pull you for driving under the speed limit in the rain.
The court will think you didn't know you had to stop for the bus, as you havn't bothered to take the NYS driving test, which is why they insist you take one once you become resident.
Dec 2nd 2008, 10:12 pm
#50
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Re: Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
Dec 2nd 2008, 11:00 pm
#52
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Re: Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
Dec 3rd 2008, 5:14 am
#55
Lost in BE Cyberspace
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Re: Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
When a stopped school bus flashes its red light(s), traffic approaching from either direction,....
By the way - if you argued that it was unsafe to stop, due to weather conditions, you may find this backfires. I bet you they will say, the speed limit is only ONE factor governing your maximum speed; road conditions are another, and if it was raining heavily you should have been driving slower... just a thought. (edit - as pointed out by several other posters, now I've read the entire thread!)
Last edited by Steerpike; Dec 3rd 2008 at 5:31 am.
Dec 3rd 2008, 11:06 am
#56
Lost in BE Cyberspace
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Re: Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
OMG - I've been here 25 years and always DREADED encountering a school bus with flashing lights ... and never have! Sorry this happened to you so early in your stay!
By the way - if you argued that it was unsafe to stop, due to weather conditions, you may find this backfires. I bet you they will say, the speed limit is only ONE factor governing your maximum speed; road conditions are another, and if it was raining heavily you should have been driving slower... just a thought. (edit - as pointed out by several other posters, now I've read the entire thread!)
By the way - if you argued that it was unsafe to stop, due to weather conditions, you may find this backfires. I bet you they will say, the speed limit is only ONE factor governing your maximum speed; road conditions are another, and if it was raining heavily you should have been driving slower... just a thought. (edit - as pointed out by several other posters, now I've read the entire thread!)
And I'm sorry... I really don't understand the "dread". Yellow lights mean slow, red lights mean stop - on a pole or on a school bus. Not trying to be unkind - but I honestly don't get the big deal. You see the lights... you stop.
Dec 3rd 2008, 3:41 pm
#57
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Re: Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
I try and time when the school buses will be out. I will go out after the morning run and get home either before or after the afternoon run.
Dec 3rd 2008, 3:46 pm
#58
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Re: Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
How on earth have you avoided school buses for 25 years? They're all over the place.
And I'm sorry... I really don't understand the "dread". Yellow lights mean slow, red lights mean stop - on a pole or on a school bus. Not trying to be unkind - but I honestly don't get the big deal. You see the lights... you stop.
And I'm sorry... I really don't understand the "dread". Yellow lights mean slow, red lights mean stop - on a pole or on a school bus. Not trying to be unkind - but I honestly don't get the big deal. You see the lights... you stop.
I've always lived in cities or high-density suburbs. There simply aren't many school buses around. Also, maybe another factor is, I don't get up early and am usually not on the road till well after 8, usually 9, and not back on the road till 7 or 8pm. I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles in my time here, too!
Dec 3rd 2008, 3:56 pm
#59
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Re: Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
You stop no matter if you are behind the bus or coming towards the bus from the front (opposite side of the road). You stop at their yellow flashing lights, not just at the stop sign that protrudes from the driver's side of the bus.
I encounter said bus nearly 3 out of 5 days that I go to the train station. The bus picks up a mentally challenged child and it takes anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes to get that child into the bus and we have to sit while the mother helps him onto the bus.
Jim and I bowled on a team one year where one of our members daughter died when she cross in front of the stopped, yellow light flashing, stop sign out school bus and was hit by a car who continued driving around the stopped bus.
I encounter said bus nearly 3 out of 5 days that I go to the train station. The bus picks up a mentally challenged child and it takes anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes to get that child into the bus and we have to sit while the mother helps him onto the bus.
Jim and I bowled on a team one year where one of our members daughter died when she cross in front of the stopped, yellow light flashing, stop sign out school bus and was hit by a car who continued driving around the stopped bus.
'dread' because - a) the penalty is harsh if you violate it; b) I'm never clear on all the details, such as, if you are on the other side of a divided highway, etc c) I have always feared being stuck in some outer lane, having to stop in that lane, and then getting rear-ended by some less-alert jackass behind me. d) since I've never encountered it, I have no experience of it - kind of like how I felt about surgery and wisdom teeth extraction before I actually encountered them!
I've always lived in cities or high-density suburbs. There simply aren't many school buses around. Also, maybe another factor is, I don't get up early and am usually not on the road till well after 8, usually 9, and not back on the road till 7 or 8pm. I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles in my time here, too!
I've always lived in cities or high-density suburbs. There simply aren't many school buses around. Also, maybe another factor is, I don't get up early and am usually not on the road till well after 8, usually 9, and not back on the road till 7 or 8pm. I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles in my time here, too!
Dec 3rd 2008, 4:08 pm
#60
Septic Sprout
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Re: Advice: Ive just been stopped by the police.
I get stuck behind school buses on an almost daily basis. What irks me is that the parents wait with their kids up their driveways way back from the road and then will slowly amble towards the bus only one it's come to a complete stop. Takes an age and complete safety overkill IMHO. Even when they see the bus coming (because it's just stopped 2 houses away) they won't even move slightly towards the road.
We also have complete overkill when it comes to lollipop ladies in our town. Every flippin' street corner! (And they park illegally as they can't be arsed walking an extra 20 feet to where they're supposed to stand).
How on earth kids are meant to learn to think for themselves when it comes to road safety with the sheer amount of cotton wool that's being wrapped around them is beyond me.
Rant over :curse:
We also have complete overkill when it comes to lollipop ladies in our town. Every flippin' street corner! (And they park illegally as they can't be arsed walking an extra 20 feet to where they're supposed to stand).
How on earth kids are meant to learn to think for themselves when it comes to road safety with the sheer amount of cotton wool that's being wrapped around them is beyond me.
Rant over :curse: