Hi all,
I have something to say; and if I skip around, I'm sorry, I'm mad as hell and you will see why.
I have recently received a photo-notice of : school bus stop arm violation in the mail; and this is the first time that I have ever received anything like this.
For starters; I believe in safety, esp. when children are involved.
Now correct me if I am wrong; and this is the first time in all my years of driving, and I have had my CDL since 2006
(no tickets or accidents, thank God),
I just happened to be in my personal vehicle, and you all know that when you are driving your personal vehicle and when you are driving a big truck, that they
do not drive the same, and vice-versa, if you know what I mean, (your used to leaving more space)
Anyway, I was behind this small to medium sized bus, which appeared to be pulling into a turning lane and I thought that they were turning, so I proceeded.
Then suddenly the flashers came on and out popped the sign, but by that time I was passed the point of no return, so I continued.
In my opinion the warning flashers were not put on soon enough, and I strongly feel if they were, that this situation could have been avoided. Also, apparently from what I have read this has happened to others as well.
When I went to school for my CDL, we were taught to : signal early, signal often.
Anyway, I had actually forgotten about this situation taking place. This apparently happened on the 8th of December, it was issued on the 14th, and of course I didn't get home to receive it until just before Christmas.
Anyway, when I received this notice, I was looking it over and to me it didn't look right. It happened in Cobb county, Georgia; however the address's were different, Cobb County Police Department, School Bus Arm Safety Program P.O. Box 22091 Tempe, AZ. 85285, Cobb county, Georgia, payment processing center, P.O. Box 742629 Cincinnati, OH. because of the different address's, I thought that it was a scam. So anyway, to be on the safe side, I sent a copy to Driver's legal, to have them look at it, and I went to the Cobb County police Department. Also, I forgot to mention that there was a short video clip of what happened, but at the time, I didn't open it because I didn't know if it was a scam. So anyway, the only thing that Drivers legal said was after that they looked it over was that they pointed out to me that it wouldn't be part of my driving record and no points would be assessed, and also to contact the court to see if they report it to the DVM, which they don't. In the meantime, I went to Cobb county and explain what happened, and learned that it is legit, and that these are issued by a third party and that they get a percentage, also, they referred me to speak to an officer about the video and the pictures. At the time, I still had not viewed the video, and I spoke with him over the phone, and it was like he didn't want to really listen to me, He says" well to me it looks like you "clearly" had plenty of time to stop, and he counted like 3 whole seconds, and I continued to try to explain to him about the warning flashers, but he just wouldn't listen and then he had the audacity to say to me "Perhaps you don't deserve a CDL"...and I'm like "Really?" So....I decided to view the video, and of course it looks incriminating as hell. The only thing showing is the stop sign in the corner, and it appears as though I am just flying by. No yellow warning flashers are even visible, unless had I have had a dash cam to prove otherwise. But anyway, this violation is going to cost me $300.00, again I'm all for safety for the kids, however, this seems like an excuse to target people for revenue. So anyway; as a result, I just thought that I would share this info to raise awareness to other drivers so that they don't end up in the same situation.
