I need to wake up and drive right

[Jim]

Today I found myself going passed a school bus with the flashers going. I don't know what was distracting me enough for me to miss the lights and stop sign. Talk about a lousy feeling! I didn't see the sign until I was along side the bus, not time or space to stop.
I guess when I see someone else make a dumb mistake I will not judge them as critically as I used to.
I have driven about 400,000 miles without a ticket so I was supprised that I could do something like this.
I also read on the net that these school bus laws are teaching kids that there is no need to be careful and watch out for themselves. Accidents are also caused by people becoming irritated having to stop on the other side of the road where there are no kids.

 

[Master ACiD]

we all make mistakes driving from time to time. eventually one of these mistakes will cause an accident.

im guilty of changing lanes without looking. every once in a year or 2 ill do it for no reason and then kick myself right afterwards. once in a great while ill zone out and drive through a red light too. luckly ive never been at fault in an accident. never even gotten a ticket before.

 

[Matt89]

Tell you what, Jim...if you haven't done it in awhile go get your eyes checked.

I had a wreck (was 20 years old) and then had my physical...what do you know, I really didn't even see that lady!

Got glasses and my driving improved dramatically.

 

[MrCritical]

There are so many distractions for drivers now, phones, high end entertainment systems, nav. systems, video games, and text messaging.

I see folks driving and shaving, eating, drinking, and even reading.

Roll down your windows and turn off all the noise. You'll be surprised how much more you notice.

 

[Spitty]

I remember about 20 years ago, going to work on the early shift. I stopped at a Green traffic light and waitd for it to turn red before proceeding! I figured I should aim to get more sleep.

 

[Papa Bear]

I did the same thing,Spitty.

I have to admit I wasn't exactly sober ...

 

[road_rascal]

Here in MN you can get a ticket for driving past a school bus with the lights/ stop sign out. Bus driver only has to give the cops the plate #. I've been guilty of doing a few boneheaded things.

 

[wavinwayne]

Back in the day, whilst driving my super-cool '83 Monte Carlo, I was sitting at a red light, re-winding a cassette tape. The tape re-wound, the music began, and I took off through the intersection, red light shining brightly upon my stupid self. As soon as I made it through the intersection alive, I made a mental note It worked.

 

[surfstar]

Quote:

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Here in MN you can get a ticket for driving past a school bus with the lights/ stop sign out. Bus driver only has to give the cops the plate #. I've been guilty of doing a few boneheaded things.

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In CA its a HUGE fine. Not something you want to get caught doing.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

I remember reading about a chief of police who did the same exact thing...when he got to the station he wrote himself a ticket and added the proper points to his license...I read this in Road & Track a few months ago...

 

[JackFish]

My problem is speeding.
Just can't seem to keep my foot off the go pedal.
We have many red-light cameras here, and I seem to find them about 20mph too late. They're at intersections, and sometimes I hit the gas to beat a yellow or red and bingo....
Is there some kind of AA group for guys like me?

 

[eljefino]

I was in court fighting a speeding ticket (I lost) but there was someone there for a school bus passing violation. I get the impression he HAD to be there, could not just plead guilty and mail the ticket and fine in.

They had the bus driver in there as a witness, it was a big deal.

Another time I was stopped behind a school bus and oncoming traffic was also stopped. The kid was making his way to the door but the driver didn't open the door all the way yet. An oncoming junky old ford explorer approached the traffic line, apparantly couldn't stop, so he swerved across the buses and my lane into the ditch to my right. Bounced over the driveway that was that kid's destination and then into the ditch beyond. Kept going until was out of sight in my rearview mirror. Bizzarro. Thankfully the bus drivers have good visibility and don't let the kids out until it's safe.

 

[Jim]

I wonder why you don't need to stop for city busses. Does it mean that people that have made it through school are less valuable? Does it mean that once you are out of school you are smart enough to look both ways before crossing a street? If this is true, why not teach the kids early like they did when I was young.

The yellow lights need to be strobes or something that gets your attention. I am as good a driver as any and for some reason the lighting or situation was such that I didn’t notice.
Anything that could affect the city revenue in a negative way will not get much priority. I hate to say it, but that seems to be the case.
As an example…If they really wanted to reduce losses due to drunk driving couldn’t they eliminate parking lots at bars?

 

[refaller]

As for city buses, I think the theory is that most of the people on them are taller and therefore easier to see in addition to more aware. Kids can be so low that you would not see them. It is interesting that they keep the rules for high school kids.

As for bone headed mistakes, I think we all make them. I have often thought that 99.9% of the time that I do something dumb, there are no consequences. Therefore, it rewards my stupid behavior. Such as, eating, answering the cell phone, changing stations. Once I was simply trying to hear my engine (thought I heard something strange), look up and the car in front of me is stopped. I stopped in time, but one more second and disaster. It is hard to stay focused when you go through the task so often and usually don't get punished when you lose focus.

ref

 

[CBDFrontier06]

I ususally don't make what's considered to be 'boneheaded' mistakes. I don't eat, drink, read, or engage in any of the common distractions other than the occasional incoming phone call. I don't seem to have any trouble with traffic lights, bus flashers, stop signs, etc. But this all changes when I enter a part of town that has one-way streets. For whatever reason, the One Way signs are invisible to me and if there aren't cars coming that I can see from the corner, I'll turn and go the wrong way more often than not. So..I just don't travel to downtown Dallas unless it's life or death. What's more embarassing than that 3-point U-turn in front of oncoming traffic? Arrrghhhh

 

[surfstar]

nah, its because people who usually ride city buses are of lower socioeconomic standing

 

[brianl703]

I think there are some places in this country where the high school students ride the city busses to school.

 

[adam123]

I remember Dropping my wallet down at my feet, I looked up and it was all clear no cars ahead and no lights; So i reached down to get my wallet. This took no longer then 3 seconds. A car had pulled out from their house and I was probably less then 400 Feet from them. (Keep in mind this was a 1990 f-150 with no abs) I did everything in this world I could think of at the time to try to stop from hitting them. Ended up running the truck into a ditch. (Love those strong bumpers) Put it in 4Low and pulled out and drove home. Needed a New bumper after that.

 

[wander2039]

I stopped for a bus coming the other direction a while back. The car behind me honked and went around me and almost hit the bus, the gene pool is terrible around KC.

 

[rjundi]

Quote:

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I wonder why you don't need to stop for city busses.

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All city and town bus stops release points are always the side of the road opposite traffic.

A school bus its release point could be the traffic side or non-traffic side. No one can anticipate this who is driving so you simply stop and wait.