Sharing the road
Which vehicles are required to stop before crossing railroad tracks, even when no train is in sight?
- Buses, school buses, and vehicles displaying a hazardous materials placard. Correct answer
- Only school buses carrying children.
- All vehicles, at every crossing.
Why
Most drivers only stop at a railroad crossing when the signals or gates tell them to, but some vehicles must stop every time: buses, school buses and trucks carrying hazardous loads, identified by the diamond-shaped placard on the vehicle. The reason is what they carry, people or dangerous cargo, so an empty school bus is still a bus. When you follow one of these vehicles toward a crossing, expect it to stop even if the tracks look clear, and leave room so you are not caught behind it on the tracks. For everyone else the rule is: stop when the red lights flash, stay at least 15 feet from the nearest track, and never drive around lowered gates.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Buses, school buses, and vehicles displaying a hazardous materials placard.
The rule behind this one
Sharing the road in California goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on sharing the road
- A school bus with its red lights flashing is stopped on the far side of a divided highway that has two lanes in each direction. Must you stop?
- An average passenger vehicle at 55 mph can stop within 300 feet. How much room can a large vehicle need at the same speed?
- The large truck ahead of you swings out to the left as it comes up to a corner. What is the safest reading of that move?
- When may you overtake and pass a light rail vehicle or a streetcar on its left side?