VIDEO: The dashcam video below shows an unfortunately not uncommon practice which can prove fatal. The video, captured on Clifton Avenue, shows a school bus letting off students on Clifton Avenue, when a car ignores the flashing lights and cruises right by.
Passing a school bus as it lets off students is both very hazardous and against the law. And if you’re caught doing that, you can get several points on your license and a hefty fine.
Last week, TLS reported about the Board of Transportation’s efforts to educate parents and children about the dangers of getting on and off of a school bus.
This video and other similar ‘Caught on Camera’ videos are posted on TLS as an awareness to drivers to use more caution on the roads, and perhaps prevent serious accidents by exercising more courteous driving habits. TLS-MJK.
i”m not justifying BUT it would also be nice for kids/teens to be at the stop ON TIME and not cause traffic to be held up for 5 minutes at each stop
it is illegal to wait for a student who is not waiting at a bus stop when the bus pulls up. that is why a student should be at the bus stop a minimum of five minutes before the scheduled time of pickup
maybe if people were not in such a rush all the time then we would not have as many people running the red lights on the buses and also if more people cared not only about themselves also that would lessen this problem. Once while i waited with my kids for there bus the driver turned on his red light and a car was not stopping i gave the driver a look and after the bus left the driver told me that i should calm down. i told the driver if it was your kid that was getting on the bus and someone run the light and hit your kid you would not be calm. so don’t tell others to be.
#2 just curious where u got that from?
it is my humble opinion that it is usually the bus drivers fault when these things occur.How many of us have experienced bus drivers coming out of nowhere short stopping and just turning on their red lights?
It seems that only the yellow lights are flashing. It is only when the red lights are flashing that you have to stop. Please stop bashing innocent people!
To # 6
They look yellow but are in fact red because they are the outer 2 lights flashing not the 2 inner lights flashing.
To # 2
It’s not illegal but there is a Board of Education policy for students to be waiting at their bus stop 10 minutes prior to the stops average pick up time. So if the driver normally arrives around 8:10am then the student must be outside at the stop waiting at 8:00am. The driver may come 10 minutes earlier or later then the average stop time before a parent may complain the the Board of Education.
Students however are often late to their bus stop for any number of reasons and should the driver not wait a few minutes parents will often complain to the board. The board rather then back up their own policy’s gives in to the parent and tells the company to have the driver wait or back the stop time up which results in other students stops being moved and parents complaining. No one ever wins. If the board stood by their own policies and backed the drivers then busing would run a lot smoother.
Another problem for example, at one time there was a board rule that students downtown could only be picked up every other block on a route. However in recent years the board sends the master stop sheets to the companies with stops at every street. This makes the route take longer and creates more traffic. The parents however complained that their child had to walk one block over and the board gave in to their demands rather then stand strong. There is too much accommodation of students and parents by the board for reasons other then safety that need to end if you want busing to improve.
maybe the lights just started to flash and the stop sign was not out yet, I’ve seen this already happen.
its not true! because you would be able to see the lights change from inner to outer and also the stop sign on the bus was not out yet so the lights are in fact yellow. its nice to bring the issue to the public eye however in this case it seems he did nothing wrong. but while we’re on the topic, bus drivers need to be a little safer too! and that includes not driving with the yellow lights on for three blocks before the actually stop to let kids off.
busses should have some sort of safty rules like not being allowed to stop at an intersection with a light. when the light is green and a bus lets off kids, people only see that the light is green not that the bus has a stop sign out. whether it’s right or wrong its definately not the safest way to drop off our children.
the yelow lights were on
Last week at 3 PM I stopped behind a school bus with lights flashing, then the lights went off- the woman who had stopped to pick up her child was talking to the bus driver. I honked and nothing happened, so I waited and honked again. Nothing. I waited and then leaned on my horn without stopping, the woman emerged from the bus, still talking and just looked at me like I was a monster. I was already late. She showed no signs of stopping her conversatiuon, so I pulled off to the side of the bus and started to get out, at which point she jumped in her car and both she and the bus drove away. The buses and the selfish parents have an obligation too.
#12
i see this stuff all the time
If you pay very carefull attention to the video, you can see the busses “RED” lights are flashing while the dashcam approaches the stopped bus from behind. Then replay the video, knowing that in mind keep your eye on the oncoming traffic. Notice the car in the distance, it runs the school bus’ red light , THEN make a quick slam stop “wave their hand” as if to say ” oops sorry” as I often notice and continue on. Betcha that driver was on a cell phone.
To #7, you have many valid points. I agree also, if the BOE and Bus Transportation Department had any backbone they should defend their policies But instead of handling a parent, discussing the problem , checking it out, they rely on their pastime of blaming the bus drivers and the bus companies to quickly end the problem and wipe their hands of it. Perhaps one day the BOE & Transportaion Dept, can get together with the bus drivers and bus companies only, NO PARENTS, and discuss this situation. However, in my eyes this will never happen.
To # 9 & 11
Please watch the video again in full screen with it at 480p quality and you will see that the outer red lights are flashing and you can see the top half of the stop sign extended and flashing prior to the vehicle passing the bus.
To # 10
If you feel that stops should not be permitted at intersections with traffic lights then please address the board as the drivers do not create the stops. Stops on routes are created by the board transportation department and only the board. Drivers are instructed when possible to try to make the stop when the traffic light is red but this is not always possible or time permissible.
I applaud the board transportation department as I know they have a difficult job and they know the companies and drivers have a difficult job as well. However it is time for the Board of Education and their Transportation Department to share the blame with Lakewood’s busing issues rather then allow the public to dump it all on many of the dedicated drivers. The routes they create and contract to the companies directly create or affect many the problems the public has with busing. It is not uncommon for a route to have between 30-45 stops and only an hour or less to complete them before a driver must be at a different school. This coupled with the concern or outright threat from bus company management to be on time or the driver will loose the run or their job mat lead to some drivers doing thing that are not safe. Problems will never be solved if all of the factors creating them are not addressed. To simply blame the drivers will not solve the problem, we must address company managements decisions and the boards.
The above situation for example could be resolved by expressing to the driver that they must drive safely and follow the rules. Expressing to company management that threatening to remove a driver from a route or fire them or even insinuating such puts pressure on the driver to possibly do things they shouldn’t to keep their job. Expressing to the Board Transportation Department that 32 stops cannot be completed safely in 45 minutes with the traffic volume and distance factored in. If the board then removed stops from the route or condenses stops so the children may have to walk a little further but the driver has the time to do the run safely then the problem is solved. The final test would then be for the board to stand strong and tell the parents I’m sorry but in order to provide safe transportation your child may have to walk a block or two home or walk from the entrance to a development like Forest Park Circle to their home rather then having the bus pull in. Not going into developments would save time, money and be safer then trying to squeeze a 42 foot bus were it doesn’t belong.
! have seen buses attempt to navigate a cul-de-sac on many occasions. the result in some cases were to make a half turn, back up, then proceed to finish a complete turn.
Lakewood is the only town that makes multiple pick ups…stop the house stops…. make the kids walk to one central bus stop like in the 70’s and 80’s. here’s a thought.. less stops…. less fuel–less time on the road…makes less in the budget when your saving fuel etc etc etc.. BINGO Lower taxes for transportation….. funny on nice days the kids can walk home 3 blocks yet get busing when it rains…. Its a fact… look and observe
Does anyone understand why there are bus stops on a busy road like County Line? I know it would take longer to drive into the streets but it seems ridiculous and unsafe to stop traffic on such a road. What is the BOE thinking?
I think the dash cam plans this out so he has some geshnmacka news!!!!
IF YOU SEE A BUS YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT IT’S CARYING OUR OUR PRECIOUS DIAMONDS LEHAVDEL. BE CAREFUL NO MATTER WHAT, LOOSING ONE C’SVASHALOM I IRREPRIAL DAMAGE TO US ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONCERNED ZADA.
#19 what are the kids suppose to do walk down county line road…. there are no sidewalks or very few……. leave for work earlier tomorrow…. Kleenex are on sale at shop-rite…..
#6 You are a moron. The tellow lights means the bus is preparing to stop not hurry up and pass the bus before the lights are red. Not to mention the car in the picture is also passing on a double yellow line. #6, do you need to know what that means or are you going to make up the rules as we go along?
busses stop and pick up individual children because there is some type of law saying if there are no sidewalks it could be unsafe for a child to walk to a bus stop. Next time look to see if there is a sidewalk there and i am pretty sure you will find it so. If there are no sidewalks and a group pick up I am sure the BOE set it up for individual pickup but the kids feel the need to socialize waiting for the pickup itself.
County Line is considered a dangerous street and therefore the bus must stop in front of the child’s home. Now everyone please be careful as we have precious children riding these buses and crossing the street when the bus sticks out its stop sign for them to cross.
some of you people are ridiculous first off you shouldn’t be so close to a bus nor any vehicle and these buses have children on them..regardless if the lights were yellow or red back off!!! drivers in Lakewood are terrible. put the phone down stop at the big red 8 sided sign don’t cut people off and for pedestrians pay attention too…don’t just run out into the road cross at cross walks!!!! something needs to be done in this town
how can we blame the driver when this bus driver was sitting and talking with a parent for over 4 minutes with the red lights on [ no children were in danger as they all were on the bus 4 minutes ago ]
who do they think they are that they have the right to hold up all the traffic ??
How about the zoning/planning boards do not approve overcrowded neighborhoods! When I was a kid, we had to walk a few blocks to meet at one stop. The problem so many schools boys/girls different times etc. why doesn’t the private community have their own central school system like 10 girls elementary and 10 boys. And send based on neighborhoods? Then kids can walk? Is the community so divided that they only accept certain kids? Such a drain on the public system!
What ever happened to ONE bus stop on a street? It seems that bus drivers are now making house-to-house stops instead of one stop per street. It’s never right or legal to pass a stopped bus!
i was waiting for this! did anyone notice the turning lane what if there is a truck in it that would make it impossible for the driver in the other direction to see especialy if a car would be comming from 4th ((going east) making a right onto clifton Ive seen this happen all the time on central and sunset a ups truck in the turning lane and blocks the veiw on the oncoming traffic, especially if the bus is not pulled al the way to the corner the view is totaly obstructed! this bus stoppng on streets with more then one lane is dangerous they should not be allowing kids to cross and expecting cars to stop it can be hard to notice even with out anyone in the turning lane , since there is an empty lane there is a large space how many lanes do you expect for people to stop? i once saw a bus stop on a 2 lane highway, noone knew what to do! time to make some sort of rule where busses can stop and when they can stop oncoming traffic!!
So a driver was spacing out…. Why is that newsworthy?
It is news worthy because it is a problem in this town that drivers don’t stop for school buses letting off or boarding children. I have seen drivers do dangerous things around school buses that stop with the lights on because they are late and don’t want to wait for a child to safely get on a bus and sit in a seat or get off a bus and safely to the sidewalk.
happens way too often
They need to ticket this more often .
To reiterate my comment #25 I was driving on Route 9 and a bus stopped to let a child out, lights flashing and stop sign up. The driver behind the bus proceeded to pass the bus! The only reason he stopped was because there was oncoming traffic in the opposite lane! How I wish there were a cop there! What chutzpah! What a danger to our children and a menace to society!