How NJ Transit Stays on Time

"JGrabowMSt" (jgrabowmst)
03/04/2015 at 08:06 • Filed to: NJTransit, bus drivers, mass transit

You should have seen what the busses were doing last night in the snow. I'll upload that wonderful and quite creative driving tonight.

DISCUSSION (18)

thebigbossyboss > JGrabowMSt
03/04/2015 at 08:11

*shakes head*.

A professional!!!! driver should know better. Even the damn 4 wheelers should know better. Don't get me wrong I hate hate hate stopping for annoying school buses, but I'd much rather stop than run over 5 year old jimmy.

thebigbossyboss > JGrabowMSt
03/04/2015 at 08:20

Also what is the fine for that in NJ? Here, god help you if you get caught, it's a LOT!! From Ontario's Highway dept:

It is illegal to fail to stop for a stopped school bus that has its red lights flashing. If you don't stop, you can be fined $400 to $2,000 and get six demerit points for a first offence. If you are convicted a second time within five years, the penalty is a fine of $1,000 to $4,000 and six demerit points. You could also go to jail for up to six months.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > JGrabowMSt
03/04/2015 at 08:27

On one hand, I thought you *technically* don't stop for the yellow lights, just the red ones with stop signs. I could be wrong though.

On the other hand, that bus driver is a moron. I am now quite interested to see the other clips.

thebigbossyboss > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
03/04/2015 at 08:31

Are those yellow lights? I thought they were red.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > JGrabowMSt
03/04/2015 at 08:45

Bus driver should have kicked the reds and stop arm out as soon as they stopped. *technically* the bus and first few cars were in the right by being allowed to pass, probably not legal to do so cutting in the oncoming lane, and just overall stupid though for not waiting.

Here's just a fair warning to everyone. There are systems being installed on buses that will send you a nice ticket in the mail, same as your red light tickets, but with a hefty fine.

Richtofen, Baron von Pickup > thebigbossyboss
03/04/2015 at 08:45

Those are the yellows. The reds don't come on until the stop sign pops out.

Richtofen, Baron von Pickup > thebigbossyboss
03/04/2015 at 08:48

Watch the video again. The bus stops with the inner yellow flashers on. People, and the bus, continue to pass, which is legal. The reds come on when little Timmy finally starts hobbling across the yard; and you'll also see the side-mounted stop sign deploy as the lights switch to the inner red ones.

thebigbossyboss > Richtofen, Baron von Pickup
03/04/2015 at 08:48

Oh ok. Then it's acceptable behaviors I guess. Here you only have to stop for reds, but the busses don't use yellows so it's kind of moot point.

Richtofen, Baron von Pickup > thebigbossyboss
03/04/2015 at 08:50

Weird that they don't use the yellows where you are, though.

thebigbossyboss > Richtofen, Baron von Pickup
03/04/2015 at 08:59

Ontario is stupid sometimes.

crowmolly > thebigbossyboss
03/04/2015 at 09:45

It is pretty bad. It's a 5 point ticket. Same as reckless driving, racing, or doing 30+ mph over the limit.

5 pts/$100 fine/possible 15 days jail or community service

I am not speaking from personal experience but I have heard that judges/prosecutors do not "knock down" the charge if you plead guilty like they do with speeding. If you get the ticket, you get the full penalty.

Depending on your driving history 5 pts on your insurance policy could add up to a significant amount of money.

JGrabowMSt > thebigbossyboss
03/04/2015 at 10:00

It was just a stupid unsafe move. I wish I could have measured how closely the NJ Transit bus cut that pass, because they came way too close to hitting me. Again, just like last night, and a few weeks ago on the highway.

There is simply no excuse. Wait two minutes? Heaven forbid..

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > thebigbossyboss
03/04/2015 at 10:19

They look red at first, but notice the actual red lights come on when the stop sign swings out. They are the outer pair.

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > JGrabowMSt
03/04/2015 at 10:27

While I don't think this was technically illegal, it's certainly not smart to do. IS there any way you can send that video to NJ Transit? They might like to know how their drivers view safety.

JGrabowMSt > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
03/04/2015 at 15:16

So I just looked up the NJ specific laws. As it turns out, there is zero mention of being allowed to pass a bus on a flashing yellow. There is however, mention of being able to pass under other very specific situations. With that in mind, improperly passing a school bus is 5 points, $100, and potentially 15 days in prison for a first offense.

So yeah, very seriously breaking that law. Bus driver or not, the law applies.

JGrabowMSt > Richtofen, Baron von Pickup
03/04/2015 at 16:48

It's not legally by NJ State Law however. If a bus stops to pick up children you are required to stop for the bus and NOT PASS until the red lights stop flashing. The yellow lights are supposed to be a warning sign that the bus is about to stop, not anything about it being safe to pass.

The only time you're allowed to pass a bus is at 10MPH when the bus is dropping children off at a school or camp. Printed clear as day in the NJ State Law (39:4-128.1).

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > JGrabowMSt
03/08/2015 at 23:43

Still looking forward to seeing these.

JGrabowMSt > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
03/09/2015 at 00:05

I've got two videos, one older, one more recent. A couple of the juicy ones got overwritten as I was stuck in traffic for 3 hours twice in a week because of the snow, so I missed a lot of stuff thinking I could wait until getting home to pull the footage off.

I also barely have time to go through the footage, but it's not all completely lost.