A divided four lane road with median, school bus stopped in westbound direction right lane with flashing yellow lights. All cars behind school bus are stopped. Driver A in left lane approaching the scene proceeds with caution. Seeing the school bus and stopped cars behing the bus. Driver A decides to slow down in case students are crossing the 2 westbound lanes. Driver A in left lane then decides to stop, because all the other drivers directly behind the school bus were stopped. Driver A in left lane is stopped now, gets hit from behind from Driver B. Driver B in westbound left lane was not paying attention. She stated she didn't see me and driver A was hit. Driver B was going approximatley 35mph when driver A was hit. Driver B's car was totaled and Driver A's car moved 75 feet from impact and sustained injuries. Driver A was not issued a citation NOR was driver B. Who should have been issued a citation? Was it Driver A's fault or B's? Should Driver B been citated for inattentive driving? Please explain why no citations were issued? Witness's stated they saw flashing red lights, some said yellow, but besides that, being hit from behind doesn't that validate inattentive driving on Driver B's behalf? Please explain this to me. I live in the state of Wisconsin.

No citations were issued because the police did not witness the incident.

Wisconsin law states that you should not pass a stopped school bus with flashing lights: Don't pass a stopped school bus - Wisconsin Department of Transportation (http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/safety/vehicle/schoolbus/dont-pass.htm)

So Driver A should have stopped. In any rear ending situation fault is generally with the car hitting from behind. If Driver B should have seen the school bus and expected Driver A to stop.

Driver A did stop. The police officer indicated that driver A did not have to stop because both driver A and witnesses stated the lights were yellow and students leaving the bus on divided highway, are left off on a walkway and can not cross the road

The main point here is that it was a divided 4 lane highway with a median. It's my understanding that the cars in the opposite direction on a 4 lane highway with a median do not have to stop for the school bus but just the cars behind the school bus are mandated to stop.

Cars on the opposite site of a divided highway are not required to stop. Only if there was no division.

So the car that stopped was impeding the flow of traffic, since there was no legal reason for them to stop for a bus on the other side of the highway.
** so they may be found to have some level of liability also.

The car that did the back of another car will have fault also, normally the majority of the fault.

Police officers are not required to issue tickets, many don't since they don't want to have to go to court to fool with them, and also they did not witness and only have witness statements to use. I seldom wrote tickets at the scene of an accident. ( when I was an officer)

So now it goes to civil court and they will decide who and if more than one person, each level of fault.

Driver A should not have stopped for the bus (was on the other side of the median strip on a divided four-lane road). Driver A should not have worried about students crossing in front of him. They are required to wait on the median strip until moving traffic in the other lanes has cleared. Driver A was actually a hazard while stopped in moving lanes of traffic. (I live in Illinois.)

Sorry, I missed that it was a dividied highway. In that case Driver A should not have stopped and Driver had no expectation they would.

Unless I am wrong, all vehicles were traveling westbound. No vehicles were traveling east. So the bus was in the RIGHT westbound lane and the accident occurred in the LEFAT westbound lane.


bus stopped in westbound direction right lane


Driver A in left lane approaching the scene proceeds with caution.


Driver B in westbound left lane

So, in this scenerio Driver B would be at fault.