USA Bus Lines

Do you have to stop when a school bus stops at a railway crossing?

I live in Ontario, Canada. Yesterday, a small school bus flashed it's lights to stop at the railway (as all buses have to). I saw people in the opposite direction stop for the bus, but I didn't. Are you supposed to stop for a school bus that stops at a railway, even though they're not letting kids on or off? If so, I thought you only had to stop for a school bus if it's stop sign was out, or children were being let on or off of the bus?

Public Comments

1. lights flashing no passing
2. no
3. Do the buses have yellow and red lights? I am from the U.S. so I'm not sure how it works in Canada. If the RED is flashing you HAVE TO STOP, doesn't matter what is going on. If the Yellow is flashing you are to be careful(which you should at a railway crossing), but you don't have to stop.
4. You can pass a school bus at a railroad crossing if they do not have their lights on and or stop signs out.................
5. which lights are talking about? ( the REDs ABOVE the bus or the HAZARDSs? if only the reds yes but if the hazards no (well unless a train was coming!
6. I drive a school bus in Saskatchewan. In this Province we are only required to stop at railway crossings with no stop arms. I believe that in Ontario school buses must still stop at all railway crossings. As in Ontario, we do not activate our boarding lights at railway crossings. That is illegal because we are not exiting or taking on passengers, we are merely stopping. We are required instead to use our regular 4-way flashers before and during the stop to simply warn other drivers of our intentions. And if it is a 4 lane street we are required by law to be in the right lane when we do this. And you may pass us at your hearts content. You are breaking no laws. Opposing traffic is not required to stop in this instance. If this bus driver was using his/her boarding lights then they need to be retrained. It is a ticketable offence for a school bus driver to activate the boarding lights at any other time except when students are getting on or off the bus. We do not have the right to hold up traffic unnecessarily. In fact, there are communities 'out here' where the use of boarding lights and strobes within city limits is prohibited no matter what we are doing. We pull into town and our warning system must be shut off at the master switch. BE WARNED THOUGH - on two lane streets railway crossing are no passing zones. You may not cross into the opposing lane to pass any vehicle stopped at a railway crossing. And this does apply to Ontario.
7. Many older buses were not equipped with stop arms until 1994. In the US, all school buses must stop at railway crossings, and open their passenger door. (Stop, look, and listen). Once the door opens, the reds come on, whether it has a stop arm or not. If the reds are on, you MUST stop in both directions. Shame, shame, shame.