Around a month ago, I was going to pull into my driveway from the leftmost lane of the 4 lane road I live on. My sister’s school bus pulled up at the very same moment, and, forgetting whether I too, on the opposite side of the road was supposed to stop, and noticing that the people around me weren’t slowing down, I panicked a bit and continued driving. It didn’t look as though the stop sign on the bus was even all the way up when I passed, but I’m not certain. At least one of the other cars driving near me passed the bus as well.

Anyway, around a month passed and today, I got a $250 fine in the mail. I sadly did not have a chance to look over the document in greater detail as I had to go into work, but I’m looking up penalties for passing a school bus here in NY on my break and various sites are saying $250 minimum fine, 30 days in jail, 5 points on your license, inability to obtain a job that requires you to have a clean driving record, etc. So, I’m panicking a bit.

I understand that what I did was illegal, but I was wondering if the charge could be fought since it occurred in front of my own house, I knew that nobody would be crossing the street, and I truthfully wasn’t even sure whether I legally had to stop (it’s been a few years since I had to take my road test and I hadn’t had to deal with a stopped bus yet, somehow), being on the other side of the street.

It may also be worth noting that I have had my license for 2 and a half years and have no prior traffic violations, a completely clean record before this.