Can a First Responder Pass A School Bus When Lights are Flashing?
This feels like it'd probably be the worst case scenario.
Most of us at some point almost every day, have to deal with being stuck behind a bus, or just having to be on the road during bus hours in general. It can be a monster pain and feel like you're going nowhere fast. But every now and then, you get that wing nut who just decides they're above the law and whizz right past a bus.
It makes me absolutely crazy when I see it. I just want to throttle the person who thinks they're in such a hurry that the safety of children on that bus doesn't matter. It takes me to unprecedented levels of anger, and I don't even have kids. But what about in the case of an ambulance, or fire truck, or the police?
Maine is surprisingly clear on this matter.
While nobody wants bad things to happen to anybody, you'd think that first responders would always have the right-of-way on the road. But that isn't true in this case. In Maine, all first responders have to yield to a school bus with its lights flashing. They're supposed to come to a full stop, and wait to be waved through by the bus driver.
If a child had already exited the bus before an ambulance came, the child's entire safety depends on the bus driver stopping traffic. So obviously, you can't have an ambulance or police car screaming past a bus. They absolutely have to come to a stop. Now, that all may happen very quickly, but safety of the child is most important.
So next time you either feel like your time might be more important than a bus driver's, remember that the very same police that will pull you over for going by a bus, have to wait until they get the OK sign to do so. Let that sink in before you let your foot sink into the gas pedal.