I recently got a ticket for passing a school bus that was flashing it's lights. The road which it happened is two lanes opposite directions divided by a medium. I was tavelling west and stopped at a 4 way stop sign. The bus was travelling east and was stopped at the stop sign with it's lights flashing waiting for a mother and young child walking to the bus quite a ways away from the bus. The road is divided by a car lane size medium. I sat for a few moments and seem that the girl and mother were taking their time getting to the bus so remembering pictures which I have seen about divided roads and school bus I crossed. The policeman must have been watching because I was pulled over by the time I go to the next cross street. It is a $490 fine and points. Being unemployed I cannot afford the fine or the insurance rate which will most likely be raised. I have a squeeky clean driving record. What should I do?

If there was definitely a median, you should be able to get the charge dropped or beat it in court. This is part of section 175 of the Highway Traffic Act, which deals with school buses:

Duty of drivers when school bus stopped

(11) Every driver or street car operator, when meeting on a highway, other than a highway with a median strip, a stopped school bus that has its overhead red signal-lights flashing, shall stop before reaching the bus and shall not proceed until the bus moves or the overhead red signal-lights have stopped flashing.

If you stopped at the stop sign, and gave way to traffic/pedestrians as ordinarily required, the only part of the road that the school bus was effectively controlling was on its side of the median - nothing else. Step 1, as always, is to file the paperwork to fight the ticket. After you get your court date, you can then file for disclosure, which provides the evidence against you. They will give you the officer's notes from the incident. After that, you can start building your case.

Check out this website for a starting point: www.ticketcombat.com

You could also look at hiring a paralegal. There's a form at the bottom of the page that you can fill out for a no-obligation quote.

I just wanted to post a follow-up and thank you for your advise and support. I did not seek any legal help because I wanted to do it myself. Today was my 3rd (yes three) court appearance. They did not give any reason but they dismissed the charges. The first court date the cop did not show up reporting that he was sick. The second court was even better as the judge and the cop did not show. Today no explanation was given but I did not see the cop there. I told the judge that this was bittersweet as the ticket should not have been written and at the meeting with the prosector he would not listen to my facts and only was there to "MAKE A DEAL" Thank You Again, Best Regards Larry...