News 6 traffic safety expert Trooper Steve Montiero answers viewer questions about the rules of the road, helping Orlando-area residents become better drivers by being better educated.
Walter recently asked: “Cars are parking near the entrance to my subdivision for the school bus stop. This is causing a lot of traffic issues. What should everyone be doing at this location?“
[ASK TROOPER STEVE: Click here to submit your traffic question]
If you’ve done any driving here in Central Florida let alone really anywhere you’ve seen what Walter is talking about.
You’re driving and as you’re driving you pass a large community entrance. In front of that entrance, there is a large congregation of vehicles and pedestrians all waiting for the school bus to arrive.
Now, obviously nothing malicious is intentionally being done but let’s think about what this could cause.
When you have multiple vehicles parked at one location on public roads that are not supposed to be parked at, what do you think is going to happen?
Ultimately drivers are going to do whatever they want to do in order to get to their destination. I understand why this is happening because parents want to be there with their kids when they get picked up and dropped off from the school bus. But this results in cars everywhere and limits the access for what the roadway was designed for in the first place, for cars to drive on.
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Legally, yes you could receive a ticket for improper stop or standing or blocking the flow of traffic or other minor traffic violations, but ultimately you’re contributing to major traffic issues.
I’ve seen cars enter in the outbound or vice versa, I’ve seen cars drive up on curbs, I’ve even seen fights break out at school bus areas just because of the limits that are imposed on other drivers not associated with the bus stop.
What is my response to fixing something like this?
Obviously don’t park in the road or in the main entrance of the community. I think we can all agree that this could cause major frustrations. So where do you park or wait?
Try to find a parking lot that is close to your child’s bus stop area or if it’s at the front of your community and this entire article applies to you try to park on one of the residential streets that lead to the main entrance.
The goal here is to not clog up the front of a community with stopped cars. Ultimately if you’re one of the persons stopping in a traffic lane and blocking it with your car, you’re in the wrong.