OHTA.ca

Hello All,

If a Bus stops at an intersection, should all traffic stop ?

In my case I was not "meeting" the bus in any way, as I was going straight on the street I was on (no left or right turns)

I would really appreciate some clarity around this. Please see attached image, which explains what the situation was.

Thanks a ton!

You don't have to stop in the situation that you have described.

Thanks Decatur!

I missed mentioning,that if a bus stops and has the arm out and it unloading kids ,is it still ok to pass like in the image above?

Thanks

If you turned right onto the same roadway as the bus, you would need to stop before passing it. But otherwise you're not required to stop if proceeding straight through, etc.

Thanks Stanton !

I was concerned because I felt that bus driver was looking at me while I was passing ( and the arm was out) and the other car on the same street had stopped.

KoffStar wrote:In my initial post, I did not mention that the arm was out and that the bus was unloading kids. Just because I was on a different street, I am good with passing? My peers scared me today, saying that all traffic needs to be stop.

Yes, you're only required to stop if you're on the same roadway as the bus. Section 175 of the HTA lays out the requirements for drivers.

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. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 175 (11).

Idem

(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 at least twenty metres before reaching the bus and shall not proceed until the bus moves or the overhead red signal-lights have stopped flashing. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 175 (12).