Beware of schoolbus drivers

Yesterday I took the Defensive Driving Course offered through AARP. No, I am not yet over 50, but the course is open to all area residents at my local library. For an investment of $10 and one day (which was actually shorter due to our early dismissal), I qualify for significant savings on my auto insurance. I took the same class through the same venue 3 years ago, so it was time to renew. The essence of each class is the same, but the video presentation and text get modified slightly, and each instructor puts his (each time I've taken this class, the instructor was male) own spin on things.

What this instructor alerted us to was something that sounds like a scheme cooked up between school bus drivers and police officers who wish to increase their ticket distribution. The law in NY is that drivers must stop 20 feet back from school buses with flashing lights, even on the other side of a divided highway. The law also allows the driver to pass if after passing the driver waves him/her on. However, how do you prove that the driver waved you on? That's how a number of people he has heard of found themselves trapped. They would stop behind the school bus and then proceed after being waved on. Just after that they would be pulled over by a policeman and ticketed. In at least one case, after the driver insisted the busdriver had waved her on, the busdriver was called over and flatly denied it. So she was stuck with the ticket, the fine, and points.

One more thing to beware of, if you permit children to ride unfastened, you can get a ticket which carries 3 points for EACH child. That is how one woman found herself with 5 tickets and 15 points on her license. A license could be suspended for 11, though the judge allowed her to keep it. But think of the impact on the auto insurance rates! She took the defensive driving class to reduce her points, but each class only reduces 4, and I don't believe you can just sit in class after class until you've knocked down all 15.

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