Hello all, thank you for having these forums available to the public! I'm sure you folks have helped alot of people.

Anyways, what I am here about today has to deal with a school bus that was stopped/slowly moving (couldn't tell) and did not have it's lights on or sign out. I believe all the children were finished getting out as there were a few on the sidewalk beside it. I approached and passed it from the opposite lane but as I was passing the bus held its horn on and the driver was staring at me daggers in her eyes. I was driving the posted 40KMP/H limit on the road.

Basically this has freaked me out beyond belief and I'm afraid that this driver might have reported me for passing it. I went to the police station and told them the story, they said it was all legal but I guess I'm here to double check. I am extremely paranoid now that an officer will be at my door because of some overzealous witnesses who only seen a vehicle driving by and not the actual school bus lights. So this happened about 3 hours ago as of now. Oh, as well my vehicle has a very unique color to it and could be spotted easily from a distance.

1. Is it legal to pass a bus that has its horn engaged

2. Did I do anything wrong in this situation?

The only logical thing I can think of is that the horn might've been for something else. But if her lights were not on and the STOP sign was not deployed, you did absolutely nothing wrong. The horn is meaningless. I don't know what her problem was.

Did you get the name of the officer you talked to? The officer might've taken notes of the fact that you spoke with him/her and that you were curious if you did anything wrong.

A ticket for this offence would not be issued so quickly. The bus driver would have to report it, with your licence plate number, for them to charge you. That could take several days. Even if you do get ticketed as the vehicle owner, this is beatable in court. In the mean time, take down some very detailed, exacting notes of everything: The weather, the road, what you can remember of the bus, the area the children were in. Re-visit the scene and see if it jogs your memory. Take some photographs so you can help illustrate what happened, if it comes to that. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, though.

No, unfortunately I did not get the officers name and I don't believe he was taking notes either. I don't believe they ever take notes for random questions and enquiries at the main desk, only for reports etc. Though I can certainly remember the officers face if it comes down to it, I doubt he will be able to remember me.

Something that really bothers me about this is that this same bus driver has a route on my street. If she's got something against me she could take down my plate from the side of the road easily and report it tomorrow etc.

One of the only things I can think of is that perhaps her arm and lights were out? I'm unsure of the procedure for bus drivers if that happens, I would assume they have to get out hand signal/remain in bus and hand signal.

Thanks for all of the advice, I'm gonna check the area out tomorrow preemptively.