Q: School van stopping at railroad crossings.
I drive a commercial 9 passenger school van to pickup and drop off students. The company that I drive for tells us that we are not required to stop at railroad crossings because our vans do not have the 8-way flashing warning lights as the bigger busses have. I thought that any and all commercial vehicles carrying passengers, whether a school bus or taxi or transit vehicle were required to stop at all railroad crossings. Can you help clarify this for me?
A: The state superintendent of public instruction adopts and enforces rules not inconsistent with the state statutes to govern the design, marking, and mode of operation of all school buses owned and operated by any school district or privately owned and operated under contract or otherwise with any school district in Washington for the transportation of school children. (RCW 46.61.380) The Washington State Patrol Commercial Vehicles Division has the Commercial Vehicle Guide at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/EE2D33C7-E6A0-4C58-9BD9-AE05C003B327/0/VehicleGuide.pdf. The State Patrol can also quote the law they will cite when writing a ticket for violations, and probably will tell you which one, for free. They also have an informative video on school bus stop rules for other drivers at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moK9MZVSIQY.
A:
The UTC's "Stopping Requirements at Railroad Crossings" may also be helpful to you. The primary responsibility of the Utilities and Transportation Commission’s (UTC) Rail Safety program is to make sure that grade crossings, where roads and highways cross railroad tracks, are as safe as possible. On June 10, 2010, a law went into effect requiring all commercial motor vehicles transporting passengers or hazardous materials to stop at all highway-railroad grade crossings, with few exceptions. See
http://web.archive.org/web/20150803224957/http://www.wutc.wa.gov/webimage.nsf/0/622F69DDAC4E10C48825777C0059C94B!OpenDocument&altcat=1.
The state superintendent of public instruction adopts and enforces rules not inconsistent with the state statutes to govern the design, marking, and mode of operation of all school buses owned and operated by any school district or privately owned and operated under contract or otherwise with any school district in Washington for the transportation of school children. (RCW 46.61.380) The Washington State Patrol Commercial Vehicles Division has the Commercial Vehicle Guide at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/EE2D33C7-E6A0-4C58-9BD9-AE05C003B327/0/VehicleGuide.pdf. The State Patrol can also quote the law they will cite when writing a ticket for violations, and probably will tell you which one, for free. They also have an informative video on school bus stop rules for other drivers at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moK9MZVSIQY.
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