Let's run a School Bus off of the Road!

Submitted by 1mJustALurk3r t3_zs39fe in Connecticut

Did I not see a post here a week or so back claiming CT has safe drivers? I'm calling BS. Bear with me while I rant:

The sun is setting, and a late-running school bus is on a winding back road. There are double-solid lines (which mean no passing from either direction), and god forbid, the Bus is doing the speed limit. Behind the bus is a pickup tailgating it way too close, I'm behind the truck keeping a few car lengths, and there are several cars behind me with my direct follower aggressively tailgating me.

The truck floors it and illegally passes the bus over the double line. I maintain my several car length distance (now directly behind the bus), and the asshat behind me continues to ride my bumper. Eventually this genius decides to illegally pass both myself and the bus on a blind curve (that's what double solid lines warn about, kiddies). They start to tear pass me only to see headlights from around the bend in the opposite direction, then quickly swing back behind me and have the unmitigated balls to beep and flash their high-beams at me as if it was my fault!

Look, I'm a CT driver (aka not a saint) and full disclosure I'd normally drive +5 or so over the limit on this stretch of road, but really, people? It's a dammed SCHOOL BUS we're behind! What the hell?

TL/DR: Connecticut drivers suck.

Edit for post-road-rage typos.

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Comments

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Nutella_Zamboni t1_j161s6b wrote

A coworker of mine drives a bus before/after school. He has daily horror stories about the kids, parents, other drivers, and his company management. No WONDER no one wants to drive a bus. I've a class a CDL and he asked me a few years ago if I wanted to be a fill in driver. No thanks, I'm good.

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1mJustALurk3r OP t1_j16390g wrote

I was thinking to myself how great it would be if the buses had cameras that could record the plates of these nutjobs. Probably no budget for them.

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Nutella_Zamboni t1_j168kc5 wrote

I know they have cameras INside the buses, I'll have to ask about dash cams. He actually told me a story about a student throwing a book at him while driving. He brought the bus/kid back to the school for the principal to deal with. Parents are called and they are PISSED that they had to leave work to deal with the situation. Parents try to deny their kid did it, etc until principal pulls up footage on overhead projector and its 100% obvious it's their son. Still try to say it isnt their kid, bus driver must've provoked him, etc. Best part, mic is closest to bus driver and registers nothing but their child yelling and the sound of the book hitting the driver. AND kid is ON CAMERA wearing a "----- family reunion 2022 t-shirt" only kid on the bus with that last name is theirs.

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makeclimatecool t1_j173kfw wrote

School buses are not always part of the school system. A lot of them are owned and operated by private companies that bid for the opportunity. Trust me - those companies have money. They are bank rolling wedding shuttles, prom shuttles and tons of other events that need transportation.

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Ordinary_Guitar_5074 t1_j16g450 wrote

The bus that stops to pick up the neighbor kids DAILY ends up leaning on its horn because someone violates the bus’s stop sign.

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goddamnzilla t1_j167px4 wrote

i second OP's sentiment. CT drivers are stupid assholes.

tailgating - i'm already going 7 mph over the limit, but some dipshit thinks being 2ft off my bumper is going to make this go faster?? nope. i slow down to a speed safe for your driving, even if it means 10 mph.

red lights - without fail, i count one, two, three cars blow through every single red light. i get green, and the intersection is flooded with people who think red lights just don't apply to them.

stop signs - no one seems to know how they work. surprisingly more often than not, i see a car stopped and waiting while i approach from 100 ft away, and they just sit there... waiting... the whole goddamned time. then when i get there and stop, they just sit and stare at me.... then they wave their hand at me - like they're doing me a fucking favor - like i should go...

WTF is with this state? you people have no idea how to drive.

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SherrickM t1_j16g6ee wrote

My favorite are the people that can't just wait their turn at a busy intersection and go past the stop line and drive up to right behind the person in front of them that has done the same so they when the light changes for the people in the other direction to go, they're still sitting there blocking the road and can't move so now both directions are stuck.

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rfunaro6 t1_j16qp9s wrote

A few weeks ago I had a green light but couldn't go due to the intersection being totally blocked. I waited since I clearly had no room and the car behind me starts impatiently laying on their horn. They legit wanted me try to get through no matter what.

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goddamnzilla t1_j16jqoh wrote

i've actually driven in front of people doing that just to stuff them in the intersection so they can't move.

it was an asshole move, and screwed the people around me, but fuck that guy.

seriously - driving here is making me a dickhead.

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rfunaro6 t1_j16qsxk wrote

Yes WTF is right! The tailgaiting is insane. I'll be going like 5-10 over and there is always someone right on my ass almost on top of my bumper.

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TreeEleben t1_j165srp wrote

Nobody cares about anyone but themselves these days. I drive 84 daily, and the amount of absolutely crazy unsafe driers is out of control. People either are going 80+ swerving between cars, or are camped in the left lane doing 55. Seeing people use the shoulder and grass to pass cars is just wild.

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crankygeese t1_j24xhiy wrote

84 is a complete mess with horrible drivers daily. I try to avoid it whenever possible.

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tuss11agee t1_j16eq0u wrote

Defensive driving. Assume everyone is an idiot. Once they are doing rational things, dance the dance with them.

I travel +5 to +10 over, I don’t think defensive driving slows me down or puts others in danger.

For instance, I’m not the guy sitting there waiting at a stop sign for the car approaching to make sure they stop. I’ll roll it. But, if I see you doing something funny… go right ahead. You can go have your accident somewhere else.

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slippygumband t1_j16bqet wrote

I moved here from Pennsylvania; I love driving and have driven all over the country, and I think the worst general driving behavior I've seen has been here in CT (FYI I live in downtown Hartford). The most common thing I see is people just sitting there when the light turns green, and not looking up until the very last second, and now they're the ONLY car that can go on that green light. Oh, and are cars just sold without turn signals here? I'm now honestly shocked when I see one being used, especially to signal lane changes. My wife has already had her car totaled when a guy in a truck decided to make a right turn into her from the left lane, and I just know my time is coming. We've been here four months, people. I like this state way more than I expected, but the driving here is harrowing.

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rfunaro6 t1_j190ha9 wrote

Yikes sorry to hear about your wife. I've seen that happen so many times it's crazy. Heck I even someone do a left turn from the right lane the other day when they saw that I wasn't speeding up to beat the yellow light. I was very back from the white line when it changed from green to yellow so there was no way I could beat it.

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Nutella_Zamboni t1_j16h8jd wrote

PA people know how to drive. I used to live in Conshohocken and it was a pleasure to drive through PA and even in Jersey. Once I got to NY and CT, then my nerves were tested.

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madnessdanz t1_j1657c7 wrote

This kind of situation drives me mad! Nothing is more frustrating than impatient drivers being unsafe.

Where you gonna go? If you are stuck in a position going slower then ideal, you have to stick it out, suck it the fuck up and drive safely. Tailgating is just going to piss you off more. Rediculous.

Back winding road? The bus will turn off at some point. At the very least likely at the town line, chill and accept the moment. People are so self important. Very frustrating.

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queenofthenerds t1_j16ixhz wrote

I can't tell if it's worse than before but my husband will say work was fine but the commute was shit.

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hunthunters99 t1_j16vno9 wrote

Ive lived and driven in Dallas, Houston, Chicago and the drivers in Hartford county are the worst drivers I have witnessed by far. In the 5 months Ive been here Ive had more near misses than the last 3 years living anywhere else. People dont check their fukin blindspots at all, tailgate like crazy, and swerve through lanes. Also people blatantly disobey traffic signs in populated areas. I think its beacuse I rarely ever see a police car for enforcement. Literally have seen people rage and pass through shoulders which Ive never seen be common (atleast in the US)

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crankygeese t1_j24xmx4 wrote

Hartford drivers are insane. I’ve seen some really crazy stuff on the roads there in the past year.

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kaw027 t1_j16w7xf wrote

The number of times I’ve seen people fly around school buses even when they’re stopped and have the stop sign extended is disturbing. Is getting somewhere maybe a few seconds ahead of time worth the risk?

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gwie t1_j173pxh wrote

Right in front of the elementary school here in our little town, we have drivers who routinely try to run the stop sign, while the crossing guard has the stop sign up, and little children are in the crosswalk.

People are self-absorbed, selfish, ASSHOLES.

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uncleleo_ t1_j18y8su wrote

Lol CT drivers are only the “safest” because there is no one reporting the bad shit

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rare__air t1_j16pdcg wrote

Whereas I saw a school bus blatantly run a red light a few weeks ago. Crazy drivers abound in this state.

This is also a trend all over the country, unfortunately.

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AvogadrosMoleSauce t1_j18o2py wrote

School busses should have cameras which can be submitted to police to write tickets.

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brokeirishff t1_j195t29 wrote

As a former school bus driver, can confirm the frequency of these events here in CT

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Kodiak01 t1_j19rwox wrote

I most often get tailgated when I have 2 or more vehicles in front of me already going slow; in these cases I'll typically hang back several car lengths as it accomplishes absolutely nothing for me to be up the next guy's ass. I also leave this space so the asshole tailgating ME will have an additional space deterrent to keep from doing something insanely stupid like trying to pass 4 cars on a double yellow.

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notbad2u t1_j1arpuf wrote

I didn't read it but my guess is the counted speeding tickets.

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tattyd t1_j1cyigb wrote

Ok, question for you all. I was taught that when you turn left at an intersection to pull into the middle, wait for a gap in traffic, then turn left. I've noticed in CT however people tend to wait back at the stop line for the traffic light with their indicator on, and only pull into the box when the traffic is clear.

What's going on?!

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Myotherside t1_j1cgcrp wrote

Now let’s think back to all those threads complaining about how speed limits are too low and everyone should drive faster, everywhere….. those commenters are cut from the same cloth as the antagonists in this story.

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