School Bus Safety Week Targets Uninformed Drivers

Riding the school bus is something most kids experience more than once in their lives, and with that in mind Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation is dedicating an entire week to ensuring the process is as safe as possible.

School Bus Safety Week began Monday, with the focus on reminding drivers to watch for school buses and follow some basic safety rules that have been around even longer than the big yellow buses.

Among these, that drivers must stop when approaching a stopped school bus with red lights flashing regardless of which direction they’re travelling. In that situation the only exception is on highways separated by a median, where only vehicles approaching a school bus have to halt.

Basically, whenever that flashing stop arm swings out while passengers are boarding or leaving the bus, drivers shouldn’t budge until that arm folds back in.

Why? Well for starters anyone who illegally passes a stopped school bus with red lights flashing face a maximum fine of $2,000 and six demerit points and vehicle owners can face the same fine whether they’re driving or not.

Beyond the emphasis on drivers taking into consideration school bus rules, parents and teachers are being encouraged to make sure that students are familiar with the following safety tips:

• Use 10 giant steps as a guide to take you away from the front of the bus
• Be sure you can see the driver and that the driver sees you
• Watch for the driver’s signal that it is safe to cross
• Listen and look both ways to be sure it is safe before you cross
• If you drop anything in front of the bus, leave it – never stop to pick it up
• Walk – never run – across the street.

And here are some more school bus guidelines that every parent should know:

• The bus driver should let students on and off at the nearest curbside in front of their residence and school. Parents are responsible for getting their youngster to the appropriate place.
• A driver can’t leave any student at the drop off point unless they’re met by a ‘responsible adult’.
• The driver can’t leave a child alone or in the care of someone they don’t know.
• Drivers can’t drop off kindergarten students any earlier than ten minutes before the start of class,
• Drivers are required to wait a minimum of two minutes for each student.
• All drivers must have a current and valid certificate in first aid and receive Epipen training.

If the ‘responsible adult’ doesn’t greet the bus as scheduled, the driver has the following options:

• Continue on the route and return with the child later
• Take the student to a previously designated emergency contact person within a reasonable distance from the original address
• Take the child back to school provided staff are on hand.
• Take the child to the nearest police station or the Children’s Aid Society.

To see CityNews Education Specialist Cynthia Mulligan‘s blog on school bus safety, click here.