AN
ANALYSIS
State by State Variation — Part 5: Exceptions to Passing
Te differences between amber engagement, retrofit requirements and passing rules are dizzying By Ned Einstein
enough by themselves. Teir overlapping complexities are compounded further by a plethora of exceptions in many states that allow their passing rules to be legally ignored. Tis discussion does not include the typical and nearly universal rule that an oncoming vehicle
approaching a school bus along a four-lane or greater roadway separated by a median strip or bar- rier need not stop for a school bus with its flashers engaged on the opposite side of the roadway. However, as noted, differences in the wording of many state regulations make even the uniformity in this area difficult to pinpoint. Among the numerous exceptions are the following: • In quite a few states, school buses (presumably with their flashers engaged) may be passed
when they are stopped on “controlled access highways.” Tis is true in Alabama, Indiana, Hawaii, Connecticut, Colorado, Maryland and possibly several other states that may not employ the pre- cise term “controlled access highway” in their regulatory language on this subject. • In Arizona, a bus lane on either side of a two-way left turn lane is not considered a separate
roadway. My guess is this means that if a motorist can even find what this caveat appears to de- scribe, he or she may legally pass a school bus. • In some states, like Nebraska, the typical “four-lane” minimum for not stopping in the oncoming
direction on a divided highway appears not to apply. Instead, for an oncoming vehicle to ignore the flashers of a school bus that has stopped in the adjacent oncoming lane, the two lanes must simply be “divided.” Te inference is that this division involves something more formidable than a double-yellow centerline — although this state’s regulatory language does not make this point clear. • In Nevada, an important exemption is actually articulated for a scenario in which the passing of
a stopped school bus with its flashers engaged is controlled by a traffic officer. • New Jersey motorists traveling in the oncoming direction of a divided highway and approach-
ing a stopped school bus with its flashers engaged must slow to a speed of no more than 10 mph. Te state compounds this already challenging mandate by further extending it to “frozen dessert trucks” (i.e., ice cream trucks), a vehicle that is commonly chased by school-aged children who, as a result, are regularly struck by third-party vehicles. New Jersey law also permits these ice cream trucks to be equipped with red flashers. • As noted in other installments in this series, New Jersey also compromises the uniformity
landscape with a provision whereby a motorist passing a loading or unloading school bus on any roadway, and traveling in the same direction, need not stop for its red flashers and stop arm at all. Instead, the motorist must merely reduce his or her vehicle’s speed to no more than 10 mph. A motorist in Michigan must do this at 15 mph. • Expanding inclusions on this subject to its outer limits, Ohio’s regulatory language about ex-
empting vehicles on divided highways is designed to include streetcars and trackless trolleys. • Some state’s regulations — like those of Rhode Island — actually make a point of clarifying a di-
vided highway for purposes of stopping for loading or unloading school buses by requiring them to contain a median strip. Other states’ regulations employ the term “median barrier.” Unfortunately, these barriers are likely implied in other states’ regulatory language that, taken literally, appears to suggest that only a double-yellow line is needed, as noted earlier. • At the other extreme, South Carolina regulations for this exemption require the bus to be
stopped in a passenger loading zone “completely off the main travel lanes and when pedestrians are not allowed to cross the roadway.” While the latter portion of this phrase suggests the pres- ence of a physical barrier, and the language goes on to cite one (“on highways where the roadways are separated by an earth or raised concrete median”), the phrase “completely off the main travel lanes” cannot help but confuse motorists. • Tennessee actually attempts to clarify the term “separate roadway” by defining it as “road-
ways divided by an intervening space not suitable to vehicular traffic.” Such a definition appears to encompass a vast array of scenarios, but at least they would appear to lie far enough away
72 School Transportation News Magazine October 2011
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