New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
One of the more annoying things about driving in Massachusetts is getting behind a school bus. They seem to drop every kid in front of their home and getting behind them can delay your trip by 10-15 minutes. The other thing I find annoying is that whether full of kids or empty, school buses are required to stop at railroad crossings, open the doors and do 10 push ups before preceding. I made up the push up part, but the rest of the requirement is true. Is it really necessary? Let me explain why it’s a waste of everyone’s time.
First, let’s examine the exact requirements for school bus drivers as they approach a train crossing. Per Massachusetts General Law:
“Every person operating a school bus, or any motor vehicle carrying explosive substances or flammable liquids as a cargo, or part of a cargo, upon approaching a railroad crossing at grade, shall bring his vehicle to a full stop not less than fifteen feet and not more than fifty feet from the nearest track of said railroad, and shall not proceed to cross until it is safe to do so. The operator of a school bus, in addition to bringing his vehicle to a full stop, as aforesaid, shall open the service door, ascertain if he may cross safely and thereupon close said door before proceeding.”
I’m not sure the reasoning behind the law. Can you ever recall a school bus getting hit by a train in Massachusetts? Really, when was the last time you saw a train even pass through New Bedford? A quick Google search of ‘school bus hit by train Massachusetts’ doesn’t show any results. Why? Because train companies and engineers literally have a dozen safety requirements when traveling through cities and towns.
First, there are those flashing lights and guardrails that come down well in advance of a train coming through. Having one of these fail would be about the same chance of hitting the lottery.
Second, engineers driving the trains are required to sound bells and whistles before they hit city/town limits and then start to slow down. Even if the guard rail failed, you’d hear the train coming from a mile away.
Third, I’ve seen trains drive through New Bedford and they drove extremely slow. Every inch of rail in America has a speed limit assigned to it. The only way anyone is going to hit a train is by trying to do so. It may be common in Hollywood action movies to have trains drive a hundred miles an hour through cities, but it’s just not reality.
Having school buses stop at train tracks in New Bedford makes as much sense as wearing a bullet proof vest at a laser tag match. It will just slow you down, but do little to actually protect you. New Bedford is also one of the more distracted driving cities that you’ll drive in, and buses stopping in places where most people don’t, just may cause more accidents than they prevent.
