Hi there smart drivers. Rick with Smart Drive Test talking to you today about
stopping for school buses and the school bus laws. I put up a video yesterday on
that and I had a comment from Dima Komarov and he stated that in the state of
New York, even if it's on a divided highway you still have to stop for a
school bus. So that's what we're going to talk about today: stopping for a school
bus on a divided highway and the exceptions to the rules. Because as you
know, there unfortunately, are always exceptions to the
rules. Now just before we get started here, I want to have a little rant
against New York State because New York State always seems to be the exception.
So just before we get started here, let's have a couple of things.. we'll just do a
bit housecleaning here. If you've got other things running in the background on your
computer and whatnot, just turn those off--Facebook and whatnot--because it takes up
a lot of your RAM and memory on your computer and those types of things and
the stream won't run as well if that happens. Now if you have questions about
licensing outside of school buses, by all means ask me a question about that and
if you really, really, really, really want your question answered about passing a
road test or the some of the...you know, instant fails on a road test.. by all
means super chat is available. As well you can simply send me a couple of
bucks and I'll be sure to answer any questions you have and if you ask me a
question in super chat and give me a couple of bucks to answer that question
I will stick around after the end of the feed here and I will make sure that I
all answer those in the comments. So if you do that, ask me a question and I will
make sure that I actually get to your question. So yesterday, again just
repeating, I put up a video about school buses and the laws and regulations
surrounding school buses. [LOOKING AT COMMENTS] Tim asked me why school buses are yellow. So we'll
just answer that question in a moment here. So I put up the video about that and
Dima Kamarov said that buses in New York State have to stop even if
it's a divided highway and Layne Hagan said that most of my videos are general
principles, but we like to mention and point out the exceptions to the rule. So
why school buses are yellow is probably the same reason that yellow cabs are
yellow. The person who founded yellow cabs years and years ago,
before we had those bright neon colors that drive you crazy - yellow is the color
that can be seen from the farthest distance. So it's an issue of safety in
terms of yellow buses. It allows them to be more recognizable from a farther
distance and other traffic is able to see them. Submarines - why are yellow
submarines - the Beatles I think has something to do with yellow submarine. So
the exception to the rule is New York State. Yes you are supposed to stop,
even if you're on a divided highway, however I will say to you if you stop on
a divided highway for a school bus with the lights flashing there is a really
good chance that you could be rear-ended. So we'll just go to the DMV handbook
here, and in the DMV handbook, just find that for you here. It says that you must
stop for a school bus even if it is on the opposite side of a divided highway.
Now that's interesting because it doesn't define in the book
what a divided highway is. Because a divided highway could be anything from a cement
barrier, to a berm, to a nature strip between the two highways. So it's
difficult to determine what is a divided highways. Now the other thing is, if you
go to Wikipedia, in Wikipedia it says, and I wouldn't use this on a academic paper -
cite Wikipedia, but Wikipedia does have sources and you can use those. And you can go to the
sources. But in Wikipedia, it says in the state of New York here that
approximately 50,000 people a year pass school buses. And they posit the notion
that most people are passing school buses on divided highways. That's why the
numbers are so high, and I would probably agree with that because if I was on a
divided highway I probably wouldn't stop for a
school bus because I would risk being rear-ended by other traffic on the
highway. So that's the reason that I wouldn't do it. They have proposed to
change the legislation according to what's in here, but it hasn't been done.
Now the other thing that supersedes the driving manuals is the Highway Traffic
Act. And I looked in the Highway Traffic Act for the state of New York and there isn't anything in the
Highway Traffic Act that says that you must stop for school bus on a divided
highway. So I don't know... you know that's the best information that I can give you,
that yes in fact you do. So if you're on a road test and you are on a divided
highway, you need to stop for a school bus in the state of New York because otherwise you're going to
fail your road test. Now as I said, I wanted to have a rant against New York State.
Yes I do kind of want to have a rant against New York state because not only does
New York State have the exception that you have to stop for school buses even
if you're on a divided highway, New York State is also the other US state that
the exit numbers on their interstate do not align with the mile markers. It's one
of the only states that does that. The other thing about New York State is
that the heights on bridges and overpasses is not from the ground; it's
from the center of the hub. So there are lots of 12' feet 6" inches heights of bridges and
overpasses in New York State that you can go under in a truck that is 13 feet
six inches high, which is the legal height. So New York State has some
oddities in terms of its traffic laws. [CHUCKLING] And I'm not sure why that is? So the
school bus law - yes you have to stop on a divided highway for school bus in the
state of New York. And there are some other exceptions here, as I was talking
about Ontario, Canada. Other traffic and bus drivers can act as eye witnesses to get
a conviction in a court of law, which I talked about in the video. And here in Wilkipedia
they talked about it here. Jessica's law in Arkansas on Wikipedia as well. And
just go back to Wikipedia for you for a sec.
Jessica's law, also in the same as keeping in Ontario, is that if you're
able to pedestrians, witnesses, and other motorists can
act as witnesses to get a conviction in a court of law if other
traffic passes a school bus. So know that as well. So there is a fair bit of
information about that on Wikipedia. There's some good sources and some not
so good sources in terms of what's on Wikipedia. It also says that... British
Columbia - that you have to stop on a divided highway, which is not true
because it's not in the Highway Traffic Act. So if you want the definitive answer about traffic laws,
oftentimes it's going to be in the Highway Traffic Act. If it's not in the
Highway Traffic Act then it's unlikely that you have to stop on a divided
highway. I have looked at a fair number of the Highway Traffic Acts and
that information hasn't been there. So just know that about the state of New
York if you're on a road test and you're in a rural area in the morning and doing a
road test. That if you're on a divided highway and there's a school bus for
whatever reason, that's going to be the fly in the ointment. Like emergency
vehicles, you're going to need to have to stop for that vehicle. So just know that
in terms of passing a road test. So if anybody has any comments other than that
that's what I wanted to talk about today. Leave me a comment, I'll be more happy to
answer your comments and get back to you and give you further information or look
something up for you. If you do find the information in the New York State Highway Traffic
Act about something about divided highways and defining divided highways
please send that information - that reference to me because
that will help me out to help out all of the smart drivers on the channel.
[LOOKING AT COMMENTS] Mastermind does driving course video work with... I miss some of the comment
here?
Sorry mastermind, the whole comment didn't come through. Only a bit of the
comment came through. So try typing that again and I'll answer the question for
you. But I think that's it. If you have further questions or
comments leave them down in the comment section. I'll hang out here for a bit. I'm just going to stop
the live stream because I really don't have anything else to say. That's all I
want to say about school buses. I am doing a video tomorrow on merging onto
highways and this is for the people already onto the highway. freeway, or
motorway and helping other people who are merging on to the freeway, highway, or
motorway. Okay mastermind, asked the question and this is a good point that I
would like to read again and again. Can you look at the videos on my channel and
pass your road test. Yes and no. You can look at the videos and do the techniques,
skills, and abilities that I give you on my channel. But make sure that eight,
seven to ten days before your road test hire a local driving school go out and do
a mock road test before you show up at the driving place. Because there are
specific information and nuances of driving examiner's in the area where
you're going to be taking your driving exam. I cannot give you that
specific information because different driving examiners interpret different
procedures and different laws in different ways. For example, I had a
smart driver on the channel the other day, say to me that when he
stopped with the front wheels of the car, on a left turn, at the front crosswalk
line the examiner said to him or her that that was the reason that they
failed a road test. now there's a little bit more going on than just that, but a
local driving instructor is going to be able to give you that information on a
mock road test and give you feedback about those abilities and skills that
need to be strengthened for the purposes of a road test. [LOOKING AT COMMENTS] Any hints
on how to pass it tomorrow? Yesterday? So, Bayeux you're taking
your road test? You took a road test yesterday and you're taking another road
test tomorrow. I might suggest you postpone your road test and give yourself a little
time to just to sort of practice and get your self confidence back. Because that's
not very much time between
road tests. And you sometimes - I just say that you kind of
need to take some time and regroup. So that would be my suggestion. Yeah okay,
maybe, maybe not. But that's my suggestion is just take some time to regroup. Okay,
so we're going to end it there. if you have any comments or questions I'll
stick around for a few minutes on comments and I'll be more than happy to
help those and answer those for you. Thanks very much showing up. Thanks very
much for your comments. Good luck on your road tests. And remember, pick the best
answer not necessarily the right answer. Have a great day. Bye now.