“Might Have Passed Bus”

I feel stupid and awful.

Today, I passed a school bus that might have had its lights on. I was coming toward it. I continued driving because it hadn’t seemed to have stopped yet and the stop arm was not out.

I didn’t realize what I had done until I heard pedestrians yelling at me but by then I was already past the bus and couldn’t stop.

Do I need to worry about getting a ticket and/or charged?

I should mention I live in York Region.

Their version may vary from your own.

The bus would, at the very least, need to come to a stop.

Yes, it's possible they'll charge whoever the owner of the vehicle is. That may or may not be you, but a ticket could be issued.

It's extremely common.

Whose version? The driver or the pedestrians. I’m not even sure the driver saw me. There was no honking.

Like I said, as far as I could tell the bus was still moving. The stop sign was definitely not out and the door wasn’t open.

If a ticket is issued, how long before it would come in the mail? I’m freaking out about this.

The bus driver would file a report. They do it all the time. The province provides them with a form specifically for them.

If the bus hadn't stopped and the driver was aware of this, they wouldn't file a report anyways.

A lot of municipalities are also now starting to retrofit their buses with cameras for this very purpose.

An officer has up to six months to charge you with an offense.

Keep in mind that when you are charged as an owner, you can pay the fine and move on with your life. They are similar to parking tickets. You can treat them the same way.

Ok thank you.

It’s unlikely that in the time that I drove by that either the driver or the pedestrians would have been able to get my licence plate number. There may have been a car behind me but again, they would have to have been quick to take my plate number down. I didn’t see anyone with their camera out.

If the bus had a camera, I’ve read that it would have been on the stop sign which definitely didn’t come out.

We were in a similar situation. The bus had the flashing lights and stop sign out. HOWEVER was still in motion. We were driving the other direction and kept moving. So the Bus driver yelled at us.

Shouldn't the Bus Drivers stop first before getting the Stop Arm out?

The bus must be stopped before the stop sign is allowed to be folded out from the side of the bus.

School bus driver, signals

(6) Subject to subsection (9), every school bus driver,

(a) who is about to stop on a highway for the purpose of receiving or discharging children or receiving or discharging adults who have developmental disabilities, shall actuate the overhead red signal-lights on the bus;

(b) as soon as the bus is stopped for a purpose set out in clause (a), shall actuate the school bus stop arm; and

(c) while the bus is stopped for a purpose set out in clause (a) on a highway, shall continue to operate the overhead red signal-lights and stop arm until the passengers have been received or discharged and until all passengers having to cross the highway have completed the crossing. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 175 (6); 2000, c. 26, Sched. O, s. 14; 2001, c. 13, s. 18 (4).

Duty of drivers when school bus stopped

(11) Every driver or street car operator, when meeting on a highway, other than a highway with a median strip, a stopped school bus that has its overhead red signal-lights flashing, shall stop before reaching the bus and shall not proceed until the bus moves or the overhead red signal-lights have stopped flashing. 2017, c. 26, Sched. 4, s. 21 (1).

Same

(11.1) Every driver or street car operator, when meeting on a highway, other than a highway with a median strip, a stopped school bus that has its stop arm actuated, shall stop before reaching the bus and shall not proceed until the bus moves or the stop arm is no longer actuated. 2017, c. 26, Sched. 4, s. 21 (1).

Same

(12) Every driver or street car operator on a highway, when approaching from the rear a stopped school bus that has its overhead red signal-lights flashing, shall stop and shall not proceed until the bus moves or the overhead red signal-lights have stopped flashing. 2017, c. 26, Sched. 4, s. 21 (1).

Same

(12.1) Every driver or street car operator on a highway, when approaching from the rear a stopped school bus that has its stop arm actuated, shall stop and shall not proceed until the bus moves or the stop arm is no longer actuated. 2017, c. 26, Sched. 4, s. 21 (1).

Same

(12.2) Every driver or street car operator on a highway, when approaching from the rear a stopped school bus that has its overhead red signal-lights flashing, or that has its stop arm actuated, shall stop at least 20 metres before reaching the bus. 2017, c. 26, Sched. 4, s. 21 (1).