Why do school buses stop at railroad crossings and open their doors prior to going through?

Question

I'm guessing for safety, but kinda strange!

Answer 1

It is for safety. they have to make sure that there is no trains coming to make sure they can get the bus off the tracks. And the doors are open in case they have to get out of the bus real quick if some thing happens.

Answer 2

its a conspiracy

Answer 3

All passenger busses are required by law to do this.  Some laws are just crazy.

Answer 4

They stop to make sure the tracks are clear and open the doors to listen. A lot of them make the kids all hold up their hands to acknowledge where they are so they be quiet.

Answer 5

It gives any students that may want to commit suicide, the opportunity to jump out now!

just kidding - but that doesn't happen in Australia, i guess they trust those warning signs that say, 'don't cross - train coming'.

Answer 6

I have never seen them open their doors at a railroad crossing. That is bizarre. What state are you from? :-)

Answer 7

Sadly, the incident described above was not a solitary event.  There have been many bus / train collisions, as well as train / Haz Mat truck lading, these trucks being required to stop as well, unless the crossing has the word "Exempt" on a sign on the approach.

For the rest of us, stopping is not usually an option, but we can still LOOK, turn off the damned music for a moment and LISTEN for the train.  There is NO safer way to treat ALL crossings.  

A broken record here, but I can't say it enough.  Contrary to popular "myth," automated crossing protection, the gates, bells and lights everyone is happy to entrust their lives to ARE NOT FAIL-SAFE.  They do have battery back-up but they can fail or be rendered inoperative for reasons other than a loss of electricity.

Besides.  You've heard that song at least a dozen times anyway...

Answer 8

Because buses are so loud (children) and they have to make sure a train is not coming, opening the doors helps them to hear and see better.

Answer 9

Part of the test to get a cdl license stop and listen for oncoming trains.All so should be done when carrying hazardous cargo.

Answer 10

It is for safety. The bus is so long and filled with the most precious cargo, they stop and open the doors in case the driver did not hear the train whistle or the train itself was not visible to the driver,in a blind spot.  With my children riding the school bus I am grateful they are so careful.

Answer 11

corporate policies

Answer 12

Buses have to stop to be sure there are no trains coming, and open the door to make sure that nothing has been missed in any blind spots.  The steel frame of the door hides a lot, believe it or not.

Answer 13

they do this so they can hear if a train is coming down the tracks    the driver cant hear the train from inside the bus.

Answer 14

To check for a train.  What else would they be doing?

Answer 15

UK Crossings are failsafe in that if there is a problem the gates will drop on a battery backup. There is also a signal to give the driver indication that the gates are down at Automatic crossings - Others are monitored by CCTV feed to the signalbox, or have a on site crossing keeper or require the train to come to a halt and use a key in a switch to activate the crossing (the latter is used on branches and other lightly used routes.... So it would appear that it is a US thing...

Answer 16

you are correct.

To RacingLiberty, driver opens the door to make sure she has a good unobstructed view.

Answer 17

Yes. To listen for a train coming before crossing. Of course there had been incidents where buses got hit by trains, so that's why this is done.

Answer 18

Yes, its a safety issue. They are listening for trains.

Answer 19

All public transportation does this. It is a safety issue. They open their doors because of a court case from 1979 when a bus was hit by a train. The bus company was suied by the 10 individual on the bus for negligence. Somewhere totaling 5 million dollars. The driver stated he looked and there was a train coming but the doors on the bus were so dirty he couldnt see the train. The bus company lost. Insurance companies along with federal transportation commission got together to rewrite policy. That was one of them. Bus drivers now have to look out an open door an clearly determine if there is a train at  a crossing.

Another odd point to add is that its not the tracks that determines whether a driver needs to stop its the RR crossing sign.  In my town they tore out the tracks but the buses still have to stop becasue they havent taken the signs down yet... silly huh