This morning a PACE bus driver pulled a stupid and reckless stunt in McHenry. About 10:17AM I was following the bus eastbound on Route 120. After passing through the Route 31 zigzag, we continued east on 120. At about Riverside Drive a westbound fire engine with red lights operating was approaching and the PACE bus pulled over into a parking lane and stopped parallel to the curb.
State law does not require vehicles to stop - only to pull to the right and to stop if necessary to allow safe passage of the emergency vehicle. Many drivers do stop when meeting oncoming emergency equipment. And the PACE bus driver did just that. I had slowed and intended to continue on eastbound in the outside through lane, when suddenly the PACE bus driver turned his wheels to the left and pulled out sharply to block the outside traffic lane. I braked sharply and avoided hitting the bus.
Apparently, the bus driver's nose was out of joint that I wasn't going to stop for the oncoming fire truck, and he decided to insert himself into the traffic lane, risking his vehicle and any passengers on it and nearly causing a crash.
On another day I would have summoned the McHenry Police and had the bus driver cited, but today I was enroute to the press conference at the Round Lake Park P.D.
A serious complaint was lodged with the Pace folks, although it took several calls to reach them. First I called the McHenry County Government Center to reach the contact in the County Transportation Department who is in charge of the Pace Bus program for seniors. I figured she'd have a good number for Pace. Instead, I got transferred to the Jail.
Ten minutes later, I called back, and there was no answer by the County Government telephone operator. Actually, they don't have a telephone "operator". Calls get answered by a clerical person in the County Administrator's office. A third call got me a number for Pace, but not the right number. The fourth call, to the (wrong) Pace number, got me the Pace customer service number, where I insisted that a supervisor take my complaint, hoping it would get handled today and just sent through the general complaint pipeline.
That PACE bus driver was dangerous and deserved a ticket.
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6 comments:
Just a thought
Maybe we could get the Round Lake Park Police, to rake over the Beth Bentley Case.
They seem to be professional in their handling of this case
Gus, I believe you are incorrect in your reasoning. Under the Illinois Vehicle Code, drivers are required to stop their vehicles if it is necessary to permit safe passage of the emergency vehicle. Here's the section for you to read, directly from the IVC:
"(625 ILCS 5/11‑907) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11‑907)
Sec. 11‑907. Operation of vehicles and streetcars on approach of authorized emergency vehicles.
(a) Upon the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle making use of audible and visual signals meeting the requirements of this Code or a police vehicle properly and lawfully making use of an audible or visual signal,
(1) the driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right‑of‑way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as close as possible to, the right‑hand edge or curb of the highway clear of any intersection and shall, if necessary to permit the safe passage of the emergency vehicle, stop and remain in such position until the authorized emergency vehicle has passed, unless otherwise directed by a police officer"
There it is Gus, just let the bus driver pull-over, he was doing the right thing for a safe response for somebody "running hot", as you like to say.
"To allow safe passage" is subjective and is up to the driver. If the driver of the vehicle felt it was necessary to stop in order to allow passage, that's their prerogative. I'm sorry the bus driver interrupted your trip to a press conference, but he/she was doing it to keep the fire department safe.
H, obviously the bus driver could stop if he wanted to. A stop wasn't required.
It was his sudden, careless and reckless re-entry into the lane of traffic that was so dangerous.
And it didn't have a thing to do with interrupting my trip to the press release. But I suspect you realize that.
What the bus driver did was stupid, reckless, dangerous and wrong. Too bad I couldn't see his face, so that I could ID him in court and have him cited.
Look back far enough in this blog and I'm sure you find a post where Gus says this [stopping when a squad or fire truck is running "hot" - they ought to seek out a good mechanic in that case - is a violation of the law, H. It isn't what the law dictates, it's not what common sense tells us, it's what Gus decrees to be the law that day. Gus, I'm sure that you could push this and seek out the driver's information via FOIA like you do everything else. Then you could demand that the State's Attorney charge him with this heinous crime and really teach him a lesson. Well, you could try... Fact is that any sane person would laugh you out of the office. "Almost caused a crash" Ever the optimist, Gus. How about YOU almost caused a crash? You were approaching the bus from the rear, you plainly observed him driving like a fool bent on self-destruction because he pulled to the right when there was an oncoming emergency vehicle. Couldn't you see that he was crazy? Yet you drove right up on him. Had you struck him, I'll bet it would have been a lot easier for you to get the ticket issued against you than against him.
LOL!
Steve, you won't find any place on this blog where I have ever written that it is against the law to stop for an oncoming emergency vehicle. What I have written is that a stop is not required, unless to allow the emergency vehicle to pass safely.
And there is a big difference. But you already know that.
As for the rest of your post, my own writing explains clearly what happened.
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