Running a Stop Sign That Was Blocked by a Stopped Bus

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: PA

Hi everyone. I passed a commuter bus (NOT a school bus) from the city of Harrisburg, PA, on the left, as it was pulled over, either taking on or letting off passengers. My lane, then, was clear to continue forward. However, the commuter bus itself blocked a stop sign, so, I went through the stop sign. The officer who pulled me over said it was illegal to pass a commuter bus, but I cannot find that anywhere in PA law, other than if passengers are getting on or off on the same side on which I am passing, which was not the case, or if it caused me to cross a double yellow line, which it did not. The law does state that "You may not pass within 100 feet of or are crossing any intersection or railroad grade crossing, unless an official traffic control device says you may." Therefore, the officer gave me a ticket for going through a stop sign. While it is a lesser offense, he wants me to believe I am getting off easy, as a ticket for passing a bus is worse than for going through a stop sign. Do I have a defense if: A) The bus had its own lane for pulling over, and was in it, causing me to believe I wasn't "passing" it, negating the 100 foot intersection rule, B) no passengers were in the street in front of me, or to the left of the bus, and C) The bus itself blocked the stop sign?

I already pleaded not guilty, and am just trying to gather defense info for March 1, 2017.

Thanks,
Cathy

You have no defense.

You ran a stop sign.

I didn't see it is not a defense but give it a try if you like.

You should find out how stop signs should be marked. Usually there is a big "stop" written in big letters on the road itself.
The bus could not have covered this. If the sign was written on the road, you have no defence, if it was not, but should have been, you could try it. Good luck.

Quote:

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Quoting Maria Lyentre

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You should find out how stop signs should be marked. Usually there is a big "stop" written in big letters on the road itself.
The bus could not have covered this. If the sign was written on the road, you have no defence, if it was not, but should have been, you could try it. Good luck.

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The prudent thing to do at an intersection where the traffic controls are not visible- is to stop.

Not inclined to look it up, but I also highly doubt that pavement markings are required. Unless there is something in the PA statute that requires pavement markings to accompany posted stop signs, there would be no defense. Regardless of the wording about passing buses, I still believe the cop did, in fact, give you a break with the stop sign charge. If your view of the stop sign was blocked by the bus, it would stand to reason that your view of oncoming traffic on the cross street was also blocked. As Geek already pointed out, the prudent response in that situation would be to stop even if there was not a stop sign. Most states (and I presume PA is included) have some sort of careless or negligent driving statute that prohibits behavior that a “cautious and prudent driver” would avoid. Such statutes typically have a higher penalty that a simple stop sign violation.