Buses should not stop in roundabouts
What are the rules in regard to where school buses can stop? I have seen a school bus stop on the roundabout by Hurley’s (on the inside lane) to allow children to disembark. It appears incredibly dangerous to me to expect all traffic entering the roundabout to stop.
Auntie’s answer: This is one of those questions that had me shaking my head, not because the reader asked it but because of the situation that prompted the query.
It does make one wonder if somebody, in this instance a bus driver, has lost their mind. I mean, how does a person in charge of the welfare of our children reach the conclusion that dropping a young one in the middle of a roundabout is the logical, safe choice to make?
Well, not surprisingly, not only is that a dumb and very risky move, but it is also against regulations. For the sake of clarity, I did ask the police and an RCIPS spokesperson confirmed what all thinking people already know, saying, “According to the road code (The Road Code of the Cayman Islands, 2012, Section 3.11.5) no vehicle at all is permitted to stop on a roundabout for any reason. The school buses should not be doing so.”
In addition, the police would be interested in the specifics of such an occurrence. The spokesperson asked that anyone who sees this infraction take place should record the details of the bus, such as the licence plate number or the name of the bus company and number of that vehicle, and report it to the police or call 911. Here are the numbers for the police stations in Grand Cayman: George Town: 949-4222; West Bay: 949-3999; and Bodden Town: 947-2220.
By the way, I have written a previous column dealing with related concerns over drivers (see Outraged by school bus drivers), which includes information on how to complain to the Department of Education Services unit in charge of school buses.
The road code is part of The Traffic Control Regulations, 2012, which can be found in the CNS Library
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Category: Ask Auntie, Police Questions, Traffic Questions
Buses should stop at a designated bus stop, near the designated scheduled time. As happens in a first World country you think you are…..Not
“According to the road code (The Road Code of the Cayman Islands, 2012, Section 3.11.5) no vehicle at all is permitted to stop on a roundabout for any reason.”
So the road code says: “no vehicle is permitted to stop for ANY reason on a roundabout” – ANY REASON …
OK Auntie, so if that statement is indeed True and the “LAW”, What does it say about stopping to let emergency vehicles through? I once had to suddenly stop on a roundabout to let a speeding ambulance through, had I not stopped on the roundabout, by following the road code. the speeding ambulance would have either plowed straight into the side of my vehicle, or swerve to avoid and probably roll over, and would have been an accident.
So can you elaborate further? Does this particular road code section need to be amended for emergency vehicles?
CNS , can you please keep the topic alive of where School buses can and can’t stop to land kids of , for the sake of CHILDREN . Until government address and fix it properly.
They stop on the Tropical Gardens roundabout ALL the time.
Just this morning I noted a public bus stopped on the same roundabout, even though there is a bus stop just 200 feet away.
Bus stops are mere suggestions to them.
School bus stopping in a roundabout is, not only stupid but careless and disregarding for children’s lives . There are so many questions about this issue that need to be stopped today before some child get killed . Isn’t that how some Lady got killed some months ago , being landed of in a roundabout ?
I think that all School bus drivers should have to attend a training session of the Laws and their responsibility as a School bus driver , and sign that they understands the Laws and rules of the road and their responsibilities .
I think that because of the lacking of traffic enforcement is why these kind of things happens .
And I have seen them stop on the northbound Esterley Tibbetts outside of the Kimpton, dropping off kids on the inside lane to leave them to cross the 2 southbound lanes! Don’t they realise that children crossing from through the bushes is a recipe for disaster? Not to mention blocking both northbound lanes outside a hotel where tourists might not know to stop?
Outrageous , in the USA the school bus routes are done in loop , so therefore the kid that was landed of to cross two lanes of traffic would have had to wait till the bus headed back in the other direction to be dropped off . But the bus driver here aren’t allowed to be doing that .
This issue sounds like there’s a lot of serious addressing needs to be done urgently .
Is there any example of complaints being acted upon?
Same for the public buses and they also should not stop on the inner lane of dual carriageways, so dangerouse.
Eek! That’s not right.
Who do you trust your children’s lives? Incomprehensible!