Plead not guilty. See what they have saying you did it. At the very least you will get offered a lesser fine. Good chance the bus driver screwed up. They are notorious for that.

Funny how a guy doing his job and acting on a complaint makes him a fascist.

Probably not. The kids are pretty oblivious to everything going on outside the bus. The way to go about it is to see the driver''s written statement, particularly the description of the vehicle, etc. But what do I know, I''m just part of the fascist machine.

Meh. No large deal. If it was a younger copper, good chance he was one. The older ones are too burned out and would talk the driver out of making the complaint as it means less paperwork

$375?! That''s crazy! Go to traffic court, talk to the defense guy before and tell him it wasn''t you and ask why they think it was, where it happened, etc... See what they have, if it sounds shaky or you were nowhere near that area plead not guilty and account for your whereabouts at the time.

EDIT: Morrolan, if the school bus has it''s stop sign out and you''re on a four lane or less road, you have to stop going both ways.

School bus rules vary from state to state, I imagine.

1. Like Swampy said, find out if there is a written statement. See if you can examine it, and see if it describes you and your car. If not, get them to drop it. If it does describe your car, go to traffic court and use the tried-and-true bargain-down-the-lazy prosecutor technique.

2. If there is no written statement, go to court and see if the bus driver is going to appear as a witness. With any luck, traffic court time will coincide with bus driving time and the witness will be unavailable. If that''s the case, they have no evidence and you should be able to get the ticket dropped. If the bus driver is there, again go with bargain-down-the-lazy-prosecutor.

3. Don''t let it get to a trial. If it gets that far, it means that the prosecutor is confident the bus driver can identify you and your car. You will never convince a judge or jury that you are right and the bus driver is wrong.

Really? I was not informed.

Swampy you and Certis are both Fasci!

Wow that did feel good. Now I can go preach on how communism is the best form of government, I''ll have to go soul searching in Europe for a year, and become a vegetarian. Or I won''t.

Umm, Dumb question here, but, since when can school bus drivers issue tickets? Or did I mis-read this as a school bus driver filed a complaint about passing a bus with flashing red lights to Ulairi?

<sarcasm>Didn''t you know you cant pass busses in almost any state (including under the influence). </sarcasm> Dont listen to me but the advice above, though sneaky, is good.

From my vague memories of Driver''s Ed, I think the rule is that you can only pass if there''s a grassy median, at least here in FL.

This is not the case in all states. Some states require that you stop, even if there is a great big grassy median in the road. Check your local DMV.

The driver wrote out a complaint and a cop showed up at my door to serve me. I never saw any school bus, and I learned that the school wasn''t in session on election day.

The only thing I could think of is that I had a Bush sticker on the back of the car.

No disrespect to Slyfrog, but you really do not want to challenge the bus driver on credibility or the facts unless you have smoking gun evidence. If it''s just a matter of two people with different stories, the judge or jury will believe the bus driver over you 100% of the time, and you will get a more serious penalty for taking the case to trial than you would if you had pled guilty to a lesser offense prior to trial.

But you don''t get the lessor offense plea bargain unless you come in a bit prepared to look like the guy who is willing to fight. You get the lessor offense plea because the prosecutor does not want to spend his time with the guy who looks like he is willing to drag things out as I set forth.

Besides, I don''t wholly agree with your statement. Burden of proof is still on the state; if there is legitimate question as to whether he really passed the bus while kids were getting on (as evidenced by the fact that school was apparently not in session that day), go after it.

1. We do not know that the ticket was for passing a school bus while children were getting on it. We do not even know what constitutes a crime in Wisconsin with regard to the interaction of school buses and other vehicles. It could well be that passing a school bus under any circumstances is a crime.

2. You are right that the burden of proof is on the state, and that theoretically gives the defendant an advantage, but in reality - based on years of working for a judge and watching things like this play out - cops and other public officials get believed over criminal defendants every time, unless the defendant has incontrovertible proof that he/she is right.

3. By all means research the case prior to the hearing. Slyfrog is right that that can bolster your defense and enable you to plea to a better deal. Just don''t try to use the hearing itself as an opportunity to discover the facts of your case, because courts and prosecutors resent having to invest their time hearing a trial of a routine traffic offense.

I went to the polling place today and there is no way possible that I could have passed the bus driver. The street that the bus driver said he was on when I passed him was into a subdivision that I never went on. I cannot get back home. If it was the street that I turn into to vote, it is just a two way street (one way south, one north) and to pass him I would have had to go into theo ther lane. With all of the traffic from the election, it just wouldn''t have been possible.

I know think it has to do with the bush sticker. Only reason to write up the ticket.