Road-rule mix: Rail crossings and buses

A clearly visible railroad signal warns that a train is approaching. Where must you stop your car before deciding whether it is safe to proceed?

Correct answer: Between 15 and 50 feet from the nearest rail.

When a listed railroad warning condition exists, the driver must stop at least 15 feet but no more than 50 feet from the nearest rail and must not proceed until it is safe. A clearly visible electric or mechanical warning of an approaching train is one such condition.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 265:48, Obedience to Signal Indicating Approach of Train or Other Maintenance of Way On-Track Equipment, I opening and I(a); official operative HTML body read October 1, 2026. ↗

No crossing lights are flashing, but you can plainly see a train approaching so close that it presents a hazard. May you continue across without stopping?

Correct answer: No. The plainly visible train in hazardous proximity requires a stop.

A plainly visible approaching train in hazardous proximity is an independent trigger for the required railroad stop. Drivers must not wait for flashing lights, a horn or a lowered gate before respecting that hazard.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 265:48, Obedience to Signal Indicating Approach of Train or Other Maintenance of Way On-Track Equipment, I opening and I(d); official operative HTML body read October 1, 2026. ↗

A train has passed and the crossing gate has started to rise. There is already enough room beneath it for your car. What should you do?

Correct answer: Wait; you must not drive through, around or under the gate while it is being opened.

The prohibition applies while a railroad gate or barrier is closed, being closed or being opened. Available physical clearance is not permission to drive beneath a gate that is still opening.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 265:48, Obedience to Signal Indicating Approach of Train or Other Maintenance of Way On-Track Equipment, II; official operative HTML body read October 1, 2026. ↗

An official stop sign controls your approach to a designated railroad crossing. You see no train. How should you proceed?

Correct answer: Stop 15 to 50 feet from the nearest rail, then proceed only with due care.

At designated railroad grade crossings where the required stop signs are erected, every vehicle must stop between 15 and 50 feet from the nearest rail and proceed only with due care. The duty is not conditional on seeing a train.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 265:49, All Vehicles Must Stop at Certain Railroad Grade Crossings, second operative paragraph; official operative HTML body read October 1, 2026. ↗

On an undivided road, an identified school bus ahead has stopped to receive children and its red lights are flashing. What must you do?

Correct answer: Stop at least 25 feet before the bus and remain stopped until it moves or its red lights stop flashing.

The ordinary stopping rule applies to meeting or overtaking an identified bus stopped to receive or discharge school children. Stop at least 25 feet away and do not proceed until the bus resumes motion or its flashing red lights cease. This undivided-road scenario does not fall within the divided-road exception.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 265:54, Overtaking and Passing School Bus, I and III; current ordinary stopping duty, not January 1, 2027 enforcement provisions; official operative HTML body read October 1, 2026. ↗

A school bus is stopped in the opposite direction on the other roadway of a divided highway. A physical median separates the two roadways. Does the school-bus stopping rule require your car to stop?

Correct answer: No. The exception covers an opposite-direction bus on the other half of a divided highway with separate roadways.

The statute does not require a stop when meeting or passing an opposite-direction school bus on the other half of a divided highway with separate roadways. It does not create an exception for every multilane or undivided road.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 265:54, Overtaking and Passing School Bus, III, separate-roadways exception; official operative HTML body read October 1, 2026. ↗

You are required to stop behind a school bus receiving children on an undivided road. A wide paved area on its right looks empty. May you use it to pass while the bus remains stopped with red lights flashing?

Correct answer: No. A driver subject to the stopping duty must not overtake and pass the bus on the right.

The statute expressly prohibits passing the school bus on the right when the driver is required to stop under paragraph I, apart from the paragraph III exceptions. An empty-looking shoulder does not remove the duty.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 265:54, Overtaking and Passing School Bus, I, III and IV; ordinary operation only, no future enforcement claim; official operative HTML body read October 1, 2026. ↗

A transit bus, not a school bus, has stopped to let passengers get on and off. As you approach to pass, what does the passenger-bus rule require?

Correct answer: Slow down and stop if needed for public safety.

Drivers approaching or passing a bus or other passenger vehicle stopped for boarding or alighting must slow down and, if public safety requires it, stop. This is distinct from the identified school-bus stopping rule.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 265:55, Approaching Buses, Etc., operative paragraph; official operative HTML body read October 1, 2026. ↗