I Passed a school bus that was pulled off the road???

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?North Carolina

Last week me and my father were leavin home heading back to work and on my way i received a charge of passing a stoped school bus. Im am a father of four and i under no reason would intinionally put any child in danger.
On my way through Jacksonville NC i stoped at a stop light, i was in the far right lane and at the front of my line. To my right a school bus pulled out and turned right into the merging lane. The light turned green and i proceeded to do the speed limit. The bus was 200 ft ahead of me but still in his merging lane that was ending, it apeared to me that maybe he was haveing tecnical problem because he put on his yellow flashers and continued off the road, again i was in the far right lane and he was in the merging lane that was ending. I continued to pass and as i did so he fliped on his red lights as i had already passed the back of the bus and the sign was in motion as it passed by my passenger window were my father was sittin and watching.
After i passed the bus a sheriff deputy that was sitting in the median to the left and about 500 ft infront of the bus, pulled out with his blue lights and came at me head on. As he came to my window he was a prick rite away and i tried to be nice. He said the sign was already out as i passed, i left it at that not wanting to start further problems. The officer even said dont feal bad we get guys here every day doing the same thing. Well i do feal bad cause i have four kids of my own and in NC this is a serious charge NOT A TICKET. 90 days in jail, 90 % increase in insureance and then a $200 fine.In my opinion the school bus should have went ahead and merged into my lane, went 20 ft further then stoped. He cofuses traffic pulling off to the side like that. i am a father of four and have done nothing but uphold the law and i cannot afford this charge on my record what should i do?my father that was in the passenger seat is also going to court with me. Im not sayin i am completely write but the bus had plenty of room to merge while i was stoped at the light and as a father the bus driver should have merged and pulled ahead a lil further to less destract other drivers and he would have been rite infront of the childs road instead of a parking lot before it and half in the merging lane and half in a parking lot. im in need of help bad. i fear im going to lose my family over this!!!

. I continued to pass and as i did so he fliped on his red lights as i had already passed the back of the bus

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if you were already passed the rear of the bus, how do you know when or if the red flashing lights were turned on?

(a) When a school bus is displaying its mechanical stop signal or flashing red lights and the bus is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging passengers, the driver of any other vehicle that approaches the school bus from any direction on the same street, highway, or public vehicular area shall bring that other vehicle to a full stop and shall remain stopped. The driver of the other vehicle shall not proceed to move, pass, or attempt to pass the school bus until after the mechanical stop signal has been withdrawn, the flashing red stoplights have been turned off, and the bus has started to move.

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If it is as you say, I do not see how they could convict on the charge. The lights were not on nor was the sign displayed at any time you were approaching the bus AND the bus was not stopped.

So, elements not met

bus was not stopped
lights were not activated as you approached the bus
sign was not displayed as you approached the bus.

since incarceration is possible, if you cannot afford a lawyer, one should be available through the public defender system.

i new it changed colors because there is a desinct pigmint change between yellow and red. Im not color blind and there are more then one set of red lights on a bus. Ill pass on court apointed atorny seein as they work for the county and it is the county that is atacking me lol. i might have been born at night but it wasnt last night. Thanks for the advice and the encouragement and i dnt meen to be rude but ive got alot on me. My father is also going to court as a witness so thats one thing on my side.

=need help bad;2666128]i new it changed colors because there is a desinct pigmint change between yellow and red. Im not color blind and there are more then one set of red lights on a bus.

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well, based on this:

I continued to pass and as i did so he fliped on his red lights as i had already passed the back of the bus

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it wouldn't make any difference what pigments were involved unless you can see through steel. You said you has already passed the back of the bus when the lights were turned on. Now apparently you took that as smart aleck but the point was that the lights were not on until you had started to pass the bus. Now, if you claim you saw the red lights, it kind of shot your defense.

one other thing; did this bus have red and yellow lights at the top of the bus or just red. I understood the yellow lights you spoke of to be the emergency lights, not the stop warning lights. If there are yellow and red lights at the top of the bus, you have no defense. If only red, we are back to the; the lights were not viewable until such time you had already begun to pass the bus.

Ill pass on court apointed atorny seein as they work for the county and it is the county that is atacking me lol

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no matter who pays them, they have a fiduciary duty to their client.

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. My father is also going to court as a witness so thats one thing on my side.

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don't expect his testimony to mean much. He is not an unbiased party where the officer is considered such.

like i said b4 there are more then ONE set of red lights on the bus. The main ones im refering to are the set on the stop sign in wich are very visable even b4 the sign has fliped. im not trying to prove the officer was wrong in his choice to charge me, what im stateing is that i need to prove my case to be rite without the negative feedback. like i said he knew they were haveing problems at that stop but instead of him and the bus driver finding a solution they chose to keep pullin people that are makein the same misjudgement i did. it apeared that the bus driver was pullin off the road due to tecnical problems, he should have merged in my lane already and stoped 15ft ahead of were he did stop to less destract other drivers in a heavly traffic area.like 500 ft before a base entrance.

. im not trying to prove the officer was wrong in his choice to charge me,

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that is the only thing that makes any difference. If you broke the law, he had the right to charge you and you are guilty. If you did not break the law, he had no right to charge you. It really is that simple. All the rest of your concerns are irrelevant and a judge will tell you that as well.

and yes it does depend on who pays them and whos pocket they are mainly in. If you dont think so please tell me what world you live in so i can move there. The world i know is full of cut throats tryin to come up at another persons expence.I need lagalitys that can help me win my case. There is a safer way that bus driver can make his stop in that area and they choose not to take it. The bus driver had more then enough time to merge b4 i aproached him.

need help bad;2666171].I need lagalitys that can help me win my case.

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I gave that to you.

A charge is just what they said A CHARGE. YOU ARE INOCENT UNTIL PROVEIN GUILY IN THE COURT OF LAW. like my sister just got out of a dui CHARGE that she got while driveing our mothers car. Well when the morehead city cop wrote her results for the bretholizer test they copied the info off the registration not her licences. The test did say she was past the limit but it wasnt her name on the test results it was my mothers. A charge is exactly what it says it does not meen the cop is rite. I said he was in the rite to acuse More less CHARGE me. Im a father of four so dont twist my words out of context. As a father yes i think he was in the rite to have his opinion on childrens safety WAS HE ACURATE NOOOOO!!!!! BUT thanks for this arguement this will realy help me prepair for my case and with things i will face in court and how to aproach a topic. seriously

need help bad said:

A charge is just what they said A CHARGE. YOU ARE INOCENT UNTIL PROVEIN GUILY IN THE COURT OF LAW. like my sister just got out of a dui CHARGE that she got while driveing our mothers car. Well when the morehead city cop wrote her results for the bretholizer test they copied the info off the registration not her licences. The test did say she was past the limit but it wasnt her name on the test results it was my mothers. A charge is exactly what it says it does not meen the cop is rite. I said he was in the rite to acuse More less CHARGE me. Im a father of four so dont twist my words out of context. As a father yes i think he was in the rite to have his opinion on childrens safety WAS HE ACURATE NOOOOO!!!!! BUT thanks for this arguement this will realy help me prepair for my case and with things i will face in court and how to aproach a topic. seriously

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Poor kids...

The kids are fine poor you that has nothing better to do the get on the net and put people down that are looking for good advice and all you offer is your pesamistic opinion and smart a** remarks. Let me guess you were an abused child growing up and maybe daddy touched you places you didnt like so you take it out on honest people that are here for OPTOMISTIC advice to help them on there path. Growup. Im a ferm believer in 10 fold, what goes around comes around think about that as you log off. MURPHYS LAW DOES APPLY

Id hate to be your child i would have daddy issues too

I live in NC. The amber flashing lights at the top of the bus in both the front and rear are not emergency flashers. When they are flashing the bus is about to make a stop to pick up or discharge passengers. When the stop arm goes out and the red lights go on you must stop. You can't continue to pass.
You need to speak with a lawyer.

Dave1952 said:

The amber flashing lights at the top of the bus in both the front and rear are not emergency flashers. .

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that's what I was trying to get from the OP and he did not respond. If there are both yellow and red at the top of the bus and those are the yellow lights he was speaking of, then yes, he is in deep mud and needs a lawyer to help dig him out.

Dave1952 said:

I live in NC. The amber flashing lights at the top of the bus in both the front and rear are not emergency flashers. When they are flashing the bus is about to make a stop to pick up or discharge passengers. When the stop arm goes out and the red lights go on you must stop. You can't continue to pass.

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Yep.

From The Charlotte Post - Reading, writing and rules of the road:

Also, keep in mind what amber (yellow) and red lights flashing mean.

Collins says amber lights indicate the school bus is preparing to stop so slow down and red lights mean the bus is preparing to stop, extend its stop sign arm and open its doors. Children may be exiting off the bus. Motorists need to stop when the red lights are flashing.

“Any time you’re near a school bus the chances of it making a stop is pretty great,” Collins said. “Be cognizant.”

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From N.C. Highway Patrol targets drivers around school buses this week | school, bus, state - News - Jacksonville Daily News:

What we see more than anything — all buses have the same eight light systems — when the yellow lights come on, it means the bus driver is getting ready to stop within 300 feet. When the yellow lights come on, drivers need to be preparing to stop, not speeding up to get past the bus.

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From Passing stop school bus costly mistake:

“When you see the amber lights on a school bus, you need to go ahead and start slowing down,” said NC Highway Patrol Trooper Mark Helms. “They only turn those on to give notice that they’re getting ready to initiate the red lights and getting ready to stop.”

Trooper Helms said there has been a concerted effort to monitor school buses and catch motorists breaking the law. “Troopers will follow school buses to catch violators,” he said. “We’ve even had troopers on the school buses. They call in by walkie talkie the vehicle’s description and tag number to area patrol cars.”

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Dave1952 said:

You need to speak with a lawyer.

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Yep.