Bus stop sign laws and the divided highways

I certainly don't intend this to turn into some sort of Delaware traffic blog, but this event is so random and amusing that it deserves a brief writeup.

A long time ago now, in my high school drivers ed class, my teacher told us that you always have to stop when a school bus is loading. And that law appears to be followed in our state without any problems save the occasional crash. What stuck out in my mind, and what drives this story, so to speak, was the teacher's explanation of the driving rules of other states and how they need to be obeyed regardless if you know them or not (basically, ignorance of the law is not an excuse). In Delaware, cars are required to stop when meeting or approaching a bus while it is loading or unloading. Cars on the other side of a divided highway are not required to stop. According to my drivers' ed teacher and a quick Google search, some states, including New York, do not have this divided highway exception. Which brings me to my story.

As I was driving to work today, I came upon a stopped bus and like everyone else, came to a stop to wait. On the other side of the highway though, I saw that the lead car had also stopped. Ironically, this person was in the left lane, which undoubtedly drove the growing line of cars behind him or her insane. The two truckers in the right lane, likely confused, had stopped as well, at least for a minute before finally moving on. And after the bus started moving, so did all lanes of traffic. In high school, my drivers' ed teacher speculated that this sort of event on the other side of the highway could happen and could cause an accident if the drivers behind the out-of-state resident weren't paying attention. Here anyway, that was not the case.

It actually was an interesting display of the enforceability of other states' traffic laws. While in Delaware, the driver who stopped here would merely get a honk or two, a Delaware driver in New York in that same situation could face a steep fine if caught. In all likelihood, this would not be the case, but I found the whole incident mildly amusing, if only because it made me think back to some random day in a high school drivers ed class.

And to recenter this to be Delaware-related and not an expose on the bus stopping laws, I think the current Delaware bus safety and stop laws are good and work well.

Tags: delaware bus stop rule, passing a stopped bus laws