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Passing a stopped school bus, or how Trijhaos screwed up royally.

  
  

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The Apple-Picker
20:25 / 04.10.02
Well, you're certainly being reasonable, but I still don't think it's right for him to try to get out of it. [No attacks on your character, Trijhaos, since this is all obviously hypothetical and you have exited stage left!] The reason for his getting out of it that I do accept is that Trijhaos's breaking of this law is obviously going to be punishing his parents more than it is him. His parents will be the ones to pay for the fine, and his parents will be the ones to pay the higher insurance premiums. That really isn't fair.

But hey, Trijhaos, if you want to let your parents off the hook, I did a little reading of your state driving handbook. The punishment for this misdemeanor crime is a fine, or imprisonment not to exceed ninety (90) days. Come on--it'll be the easiest time you ever did. It'll be like a resort, with conjugal visits and everything.
 
 
Mr Tricks
20:48 / 04.10.02
fight it...it your right.

who amongst you has never driven faster than the speed limit?

If you feel guilty enough to pay the Money (or have your parents "loan" it to you) then go right ahead... or do time... catch up with your reading. Plead your finincial situation to the Judge & he may reduce the fine or allow you to pay it in installments...

If you've never been infront of a judge, it'll be an education.

"civic responsability" is a joke if it's defined by the paying or not paying of a fine!
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
21:08 / 04.10.02
Persephone: it was the boss of Nokia.
 
 
The Apple-Picker
21:15 / 04.10.02
Flux said responsibility and civic duty. I don't see it implied anywhere in his post that he meant to define this responsibility as paying a fine. He was using it as an example. Because I like screwing around with definitions, civic means "of a citizen." Duty can mean a "moral or legal obligation" (among other applicable and interesting definitions). So, uh, yeah. This is an example of civic duty and responsibility.

Trijhaos says he was guilty. He says he knows he is guilty. He also knows that there is a consequences for being guilty of this act. That would make paying this fine his civic duty and his responsibility.

I don't understand this. Trijhaos knows what's the right thing to do, and is going to do the right thing. Why are you trying to convince him to do otherwise? Because goverment is big and wrong and corrupt and they don't deserve his money?
 
 
Mr Tricks
22:13 / 04.10.02
what I'm saying is to appear before a Judge...

PARTICIPATE in the process!!!

don't avoid it simply because it would be easier, or save "one" from being laughed at!

A person has the right to face their accuser, why waive that right?
 
 
The Apple-Picker
22:31 / 04.10.02
Right. And to participate in the process as you have suggested, Trijhaos would have to enter a plea of not guilty/not responsible, which means--

Not Responsible/Not Guilty - This plea means that you deny that you committed the violation stated on the complaint....

This, when Trijhaos has already admitted his guilt to us. Taking advantage of the right you are asserting is his does not appear to be ethical.

It's not just about making it easy on him and sparing him of being laughed at.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
22:38 / 04.10.02
Mr. Tricks, is it possible that "participating" in the process of being tried for a traffic violation need not be synonymous with finding a loophole to be exploited so that the defendent can avoid a minor penalty?
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
23:13 / 04.10.02
I realise that this is a complex issue, not only from a strictly legal standpoint but from an ethical perspective as well. It's important, at a time like this, to reflect on the wider ramifications of the case: should there be a law? If so, how should it be enforced? If it is unjust, how should one fight it? However, at a time like this, there is one important-- nay, vital-- thing that needs to be said.

Trijhaos is in trou-ble! Trijhaos is in trou-ble! Trijhaos is in trou-ble! Nyahh, Nyahh, Nyahh, Nyahh-Nyahh!

We're gonna tell your MUM of you!
 
 
bio k9
23:13 / 04.10.02
I went to traffic court with a friend of mine one time. We were the last ones in line. Everyone that showed up had their fine lowered just for showing up and agreeing to pay the fine...except one older guy that wanted to fight his ticket. The judge told him to have a seat "So I can let these other people get on with their day." As we were leaving I heard the judge say "Ok, sir. Its your turn now."

His tone of voice led me to believe they bent that guy over the desk and pulled the money from his ass.

My advice: Show up, be apologetic, and hope for the best.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
23:23 / 04.10.02
Do we *have* school buses? I mean, I lived within walking distance of my school. so only had to worry about being noncerated in a dark alley rather than being sandwiched 'twixt bus and car, but it strikes me that this may be a fundamental point of difference may be that American civic spaces are often designed for people with cars, and ours are not...so, is there even a difference for us between "school bus" and "bus"? Do school buses exist in rural areas?
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
03:44 / 05.10.02
Surely you're asking that of the Brit posters, Haus?

In the US, the need for school buses in rural areas is far greater, because things are so much more spread out. Kids can't be walking to school if school is up to 20 miles away.
 
 
RadJose
07:41 / 05.10.02
i've seen folks pass and also almost pass a school bus in this situation, a fourlane hiway in the midwest... in my state if you get a ticket you can go to traffic school, but the class costs money in ADDITION to the ticket, which makes a $75 ticket $100 just to get it taken of your record... and if you don't take the clas you can only get 3 tickets a year... i got two last october, so i've been a careful and then i hit a baskette ball hoop pole in a practically empty parking lot... thank good the preist doesn't wanna press charges or else i'd be in trouble... and i heard that going before a judge on a speeding ticket is about the only thing that will help get it thrown out... also in IL the court cost is already part of your ticket anyway, it just takes up time to get to the court house...
 
 
moriarty
11:07 / 05.10.02
Geez. I didn't realize the concept of a schoolbus stop would be so difficult to figure out.

Yes, children in North America are taught to fear and stand in awe of motor vehicles (while the reverse is happening less and less, making pedestrians second class citizens). The reason for stopping for schoolbuses, arguably one of the only sane road rules left, is to create a temporary crosswalk for children to use to get home with. In many places, as Flux pointed out, the land is stretched so far out that there are no regular crosswalks within walking distance, forcing children to cross in the middle of busy streets. The schoolbus stop solves this problem.

When Trijahos swept by the bus it was if he were going right through a set of stoplights. Imagine if you were minding your own business, crossing the street, every car stopped on a red, when POW! Along comes the one person who didn't see the light. How much of a fine should that be?
 
 
w1rebaby
11:12 / 05.10.02
I've never seen a "school bus" in London that I can remember. Schoolkids on buses, sure, how else would I get to hear all the latest ringtones?
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
14:47 / 05.10.02
I really didn't think that, since lots of Americans were talking about schoolbuses, that I had to specify that "we" meant "people in the UK". I stand corrected.

Now, I grew up in a village, and there was a village school, but I don't know what sort of a catchment area there was. Certainly until the fairly recent consolidations, and equally recent outbreaks of Catholicism, I think people usually sent their kids to the local school, and almost every community of any size worth the name had one.

So logically I'm sure we *do* have school buses, but blamed if I can recall ever having seen one.

Does this also mean that the US has no concept of the "school run", where lots of middle-class families drive their children the 30-minute walk to school, causing utter traffic chaos in the rush hour?
 
 
Busigoth
15:10 / 05.10.02
Yes, school buses exist in rural areas. In fact, I always thought they were a rural-area phenomenon, but they have them for the public schools in cities. On a two-lane country road, being behind a school bus can be particularly frustrating as they stop at every child's home along the route & at certain gathering places for kids who don't live directly on a route. When I lived in north Louisiana, I always was careful not to get on a country road around 3 o'clock which is when schools generally let out. I usually wasn't up early enough to worry about the morning buses.
 
 
videodrome
19:34 / 06.10.02
Does this also mean that the US has no concept of the "school run", where lots of middle-class families drive their children the 30-minute walk to school, causing utter traffic chaos in the rush hour?

See, that's the beauty of the States. We have both. Take your pick: stuck behind giant yellow bus that stops every 20 feet or stuck behind soccermum applying mascara whilst trying to ignore Johhny and the next-door neighbor's kid. In her SUV.

Watching the two forces interact is a bit of fun, though.
 
  

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