Please help, I feel horrible about this. (Arlington, Manassas: school, dangerous)

[Walter9453]

So, I was at an intersection with a school bus on the left of me stopped at a stop sign. She didn't have the red stop sign on the bus and I started to turn. As I was turning she put up the sign, honked at me and wrote something down....I'm guessing my license plate number? So I backed up and waited. I feel so horrible. Now I'm reading about that I can possibly be summoned to court? And receive a large fine? The was a complete accident. Has this happpened to anyone?

[boyd888]

Yes you can be summoned to court for making lame click bait titles. And fined. Good luck.

Nothing will come of your situation. The driver would have to forward the information to police, who would then have to serve you to come to court, who would have to have video or something beyond the driver just saying it was you...etc.

[ReblTeen84]

Originally Posted by boyd888

Yes you can be summoned to court for making lame click bait titles. And fined. Good luck.

Nothing will come of your situation. The driver would have to forward the information to police, who would then have to serve you to come to court, who would have to have video or something beyond the driver just saying it was you...etc.

Depending on the school system, school buses have cameras on those stop signs now to catch people driving past them. Arlington, Manassas and Falls Church are the ones I know of.

[boyd888]

Originally Posted by ReblTeen84

Depending on the school system, school buses have cameras on those stop signs now to catch people driving past them. Arlington, Manassas and Falls Church are the ones I know of.

Yes? Which is why I said "would have to have video of you." The court can't just say there is video someone has to go in there and extract the relevant section of tape, get your license plate, look it up, send out the notice etc. You could probably also subpoena the bus driver too.

So it would be a great system for sending out automated notices and making some easy money off people who mail it in, but as for an actual conviction in court...very difficult I'd think.

[Hal Roach]

Something isn't right here. Do you mean the bus was perpendicular to you at a four way intersection? Were it's yellow lights flashing? Then the red ones? Depends on where you were but it can be very serious.

[Kophi]

Originally Posted by Walter9453

So, I was at an intersection with a school bus on the left of me stopped at a stop sign. She didn't have the red stop sign on the bus and I started to turn. As I was turning she put up the sign, honked at me and wrote something down....I'm guessing my license plate number? So I backed up and waited. I feel so horrible. Now I'm reading about that I can possibly be summoned to court? And receive a large fine? The was a complete accident. Has this happpened to anyone?

So just to clarify, she didn't put up her sign or start flashing her lights until after you had already started moving?


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[Walter9453]

The yellow lights were flashing, but because I was on the bus's R side, perpendicular to it, I couldn't see the L light flashing and thought it was a turning signal. As I started turning to the left, where the bus was traveling in opposite direction, the sign went up. I panicked and stopped, backed up a little but was worried to back up some more and just put my car in park and waited until the kids were off the bus and cleared.

[Kophi]

Originally Posted by Walter9453

The yellow lights were flashing, but because I was on the bus's R side, perpendicular to it, I couldn't see the L light flashing and thought it was a turning signal. As I started turning to the left, where the bus was traveling in opposite direction, the sign went up. I panicked and stopped, backed up a little but was worried to back up some more and just put my car in park and waited until the kids were off the bus and cleared.

Oh, okay, I see what you're saying.

Yes, that would be an easy -- and quite understandable -- mistake to make
when approaching the bus from that particular angle.

I don't know how often that sort of thing occurs, but it might be reason
enough for the bus designers to devise a way of lighting up the bus more
obviously when boarding/un-boarding is about to occur, so that there's no
doubt when approaching the bus from any angle.


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[Hal Roach]

There are at least a dozen yellow lights flashing before the red ones start flashing. Sounds like you weren't paying attention (to the road, anyway), and then panicked. You were like a deer in headlights. If you saw her writing your plate down, then you were right in front of her. What if it was your kid getting off that bus...wouldn't you want dangerous drivers prosecuted?

[Walter9453]

You're right, that is a dangerous situation. I'm always very careful around buses....I don't know what happened this time....I feel horrible about. It was such an awekward situation. I just don't know what to expect. We are new to Virginia and I'm reading about the consequences and having anxiety about it.