A School Bus, A Four-Way Stop, and the Meaning of “Either”

Q. Must all traffic at a four-way stop intersection remain stopped if a school bus has its stop paddle out and its overhead alternating flashing red lights on?

A: In the classic film “The Princess Bride,” criminal mastermind Vizzini tries to outrun (or more accurately, outsail and outclimb) the Man in Black. And as the Man in Black keeps gaining on them Vizzini repeatedly responds saying, “inconceivable.” After the fourth “inconceivable” Vizzini’s hired swordsman, Inigo, says to him, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

What does one of the best movies of all time have to do with traffic law and school buses? Admittedly, not a lot. However, Vizzini’s misuse of “inconceivable” does make the point that how we understand the law depends on how we understand the words that make up the law. That’s sort of obvious, I know, but in this case knowing when to stop for a school bus depends on the meaning of a few key words.

The law requires a driver to stop if they are “overtaking or meeting from either direction any school bus which has stopped on the roadway for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children.” Can you overtake or meet another vehicle if you’re perpendicular to them at a four-way stop? Although it’s not made explicitly clear here, elsewhere in traffic law “overtaking” is used in reference to passing another vehicle going the same direction. And later in this same law “meeting” is used for vehicles driving in opposite directions. It would seem that this law doesn’t apply to cross-traffic (unless that cross-traffic turns onto the road that the bus is stopped on.)

That’s reinforced by the phrase “either direction,” as “either” refers to situations where there are two options. If the law had intended to make stopping a requirement for all traffic at a four-way stop it could have read “any direction.”

I’ll also mention two exceptions to the law above. Drivers are not required to stop for a school bus if they’re going in the opposite direction and they’re on a divided highway or there are three or more lanes. Why the exceptions? The rules for bus drivers prohibit bus stops in locations that would require a child to cross a three-lane road or a divided highway, so you likely won’t encounter children crossing the street in those situations.

However, it is still conceivable (a little callback there) that you may need to stop. Not because the rules about passing a school bus require it, but because you care about the lives of pedestrians. Oh, and there’s this law: “Every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon any roadway.” The law continues, directing drivers to “exercise proper precaution upon observing any child” on the roadway. Even though the school bus law doesn’t say all traffic must stop for a bus at a four-way stop, you still might need to stop to protect a rider of that bus.

As drivers, we’re the biggest and the fastest (and hopefully we know more about how to travel safely compared to a kid riding a bus), so we bear a greater responsibility to avoid a crash, especially with a vulnerable road user. I’m getting off-topic a bit, but many of our traffic laws have additional penalties for drivers who, as a result of violating the law, hit a pedestrian, cyclist, or other vulnerable person not protected by a cage. Ultimately, our goal is to make collisions with pedestrians (yep, you guessed it) inconceivable.