My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Pennsylvania
I've read the law for the last hour and think I have a strong understanding of it. However, if a cop did not witness the incident and it's the bus driver's word against mine, does he have the edge when we face a judge?
If I would have blown through blinking red lights head-on, or driven around the bus, I am certain that the bus driver would have the edge. However, there is a gaping gray area in my case. Let me expalin...
The road where this incident happens forks at the crest of a hill. The bus was coming up the hill on one side of the fork at maybe 8-10 mph. I was coming up the hill on the other side of the fork. The bus driver's side of the fork is the road that my side of the fork merges into. However, there is no stop or yield sign.
I travel this road multiple times per day. Due to there being no stop or yield signs, I always make certain to treat the merge point as a yield, so I was proceeding around 8-10 mph. As I got to the merge point, I noticed the school bus coming up the hill at a crawl. It's amber lights started flashing, so I knew it would be stopping soon. However, because of the way the road is oriented I was approximately 15-20 yards ahead of the bus at the time. The bus was at my diagonal rear. I proceeded slowly with caution. As soon as I drove past the merge point, I heard a loud, long honk from behind me. I think the bus was still moving when he started the honk. Come to think of it, he had to have been. I quickly pulled my vehicle over about 25-30 yards away from the bus and got out to see what the trouble was.
I approached the bus to ask the bus driver what had happened because I had no idea what warranted to honk. I thought he may have been trying to signal something to me, or possibly someone behind me. Regardless, it was an alarming honk so I figured I should survey the situation.
Moving on, as I apporached the bus the yellow rail was still coming out. That is one image that is sticking with me for some reason. The bus driver was shouting that I went through his red lights which were obviously on by this point. I told him that the lights were yellow (amber) when I saw him "crawling" up the hill and that I was sorry he was so mistaken. He insisted they were red. I insisted they were yellow. He got mad and uttered a vulgar word. I do not tolerate such language around children. I asked him to please refrain from that language because there was still at least one child left on the bus (that I could see). I told him if he continued, I would report him.
That was probably stupid of me to say, but I really don't tolerate folks swearing in front of children. He took umbrage with my comment and said that he was going to report me. I asked him for what, and he told me for running his red lights. He then wrote my info down, reported me and I am currently awaiting my trial date.
The main point of my question is that without police officer, or anyone else for that matter, to witness this event, it is the bus driver's word against mine. He's obviously contending that his lights were red, but I'm 100% positive they were yellow and he had started the process of stopping (still in motion though). Does he have the upper hand in this case?
Let me say that I go through a number of small neighborhoods and encounter many school buses every day in my daily journey to work. I always, ALWAYS stop for blinking red lights on school buses, and always proceed with caution or slowly come to a stop if the situation warrants when a school bus exhibits flashing yellows. I have not had any traffic violations in close to 9 years.
Thank you for reading.

