The Schoolbus, The Roundabout, The CHP Officer & The Judge

The roundabout south of Fort Bragg where Simpson Lane intersects with Highway 1 is the only roundabout on Highway 1 north of San Francisco. It was opened in 2018 after Caltrans did an analysis that concluded that a roundabout would be safer than a traffic signal.

Most California drivers are not familiar with roundabouts, even the simple ones like the one at Simpson Lane. If you’re driving west and heading north, the roundabout makes the right turn easy. But if you’re heading south, you have to enter the roundabout and drive around the center of the roundabout and exit in the southbound lane of Highway 1. In general traffic already in the roundabout has the right-of-way. Also, in general, you’re not supposed to stop in a roundabout, just slow down.

Caltrans insists that the roundabout is safer —therefore Caltrans lawyers say that a roundabout reduces Caltrans’ liability compared with a signaled intersection. They’re also supposed to be safer for bicyclists; and crashes, when they happen, are supposed to be less severe.

But what if there’s a school bus in the vicinity with its lights on and stop signs out?

That’s where things can get tricky.

Last December a Fort Bragg woman we’re calling “J” entered the roundabout on Simpson Lane. As she and a few other vehicles turned right onto Highway 1 northbound she saw a school bus across the road and then she saw that a CHP officer had parked in the nearby empty parking lot and was directing traffic to pull over. She and several northbound vehicles pulled over. Then J saw that that the southbound school bus had stopped with its lights on and stop signs out. J and a couple other drivers followed the car in front of her over onto the shoulder as directed and stopped. But by the time the four vehicles stopped on the shoulder, they had all passed the school bus.

The next thing J knew she and the three other drivers were all ticketed for not stopping for the school bus. “It’s for the kids,” the CHP officer explained, even though no kids could be seen at the time.

The tickets were $800 each.

A couple of J’s friends later urged her to go to court to explain that they were just doing as the CHP officer directed. If the officer hadn’t been there, J said, they would have stopped before any school bus violation.

In court a couple of weeks ago, the CHP officer told Ten Mile Court Judge Clay Brennan that he patrols the roundabout “all the time,” especially if there’s a school bus in the area.

“I told the judge that we were only following the officer’s instructions,” said J. “But the judge cut me off and didn’t want to hear me. The officer insisted that I said I didn’t see the school bus. But we did see it. I never said that. The bus was right there. Of course we saw it.”

The judge lowered the fine from $800 to $150 in an apparent attempt at compromise. “But now I have a traffic citation on my record when I did nothing wrong,” adds J. “I have to go to traffic school for $50 more to clear the violation and my insurance could go up. I have a perfect driving record.”

“All four people pulled over. All four people got tickets. What’s the probability that all four of us missed seeing the bus and carelessly drove past the bus’s stop sign?”

“I understand the rules and the reason behind it,” said J. “But kids don’t cross the road there. They don’t show them across the highway or anything. The kids just get off and stay on the other side of the road. There could have been kids getting off, but I didn’t see any.

“At this point I just want people to know to be careful at that roundabout intersection, especially if they see a CHP officer directing traffic. Be sure you don’t go past the bus while trying to follow his instructions.”