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Area motorists are again seeing the flashing lights of school buses, and that means we all need to slow down and be alert behind the wheel.
Yes, area students are heading back to the classrooms, and drivers must be observant as children travel to school, move about on the playground and come home from school.
This also is a good time for parents to teach their children about safety as well as issue reminders about how to stay safe on the way to school and coming home.
The length of bus trips for pupils and students in some of our school districts has increased during the past several years as building consolidations have become more common, and some students must head out well before the sun rises to catch their buses.
And it's not only on city streets that caution becomes important for schoolchildren -- country roads, especially in places where street lighting may not be the best, can present challenges for pupils and motorists.
Drivers, be alert for school zones on the route to work or when dropping off children at school, and slow down to the posted speed limit around each school -- it's set at that speed for a reason. Remember, children don't always cross at crosswalks and could dart out between cars in the middle of a block. Slowing down in a school zone can allow a driver to avoid an expensive ticket and, more importantly, can prevent injuries and saves lives.
Police officers in communities around the region have been placing a special emphasis on school zone safety. It's simple -- don't speed. Trust us, the reduction in speed through the quarter mile or so of a school zone will have no impact on the time of arrival at your destination. Or better yet, if a school zone is part of your daily commute -- and you know if there is -- leave yourself a little more time to get where you are going to.
Remember, too, to watch for school buses. Drivers should know it's illegal and dangerous to pass a stopped bus when its lights are flashing and its stop sign is extended. Children sometimes have to cross the street at stops to get on or off the bus, so obey the bus lights and stop sign -- they, too, are there for a reason.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, between 2011 and 2020, there were 1.6 times more fatalities among pedestrians (183) than occupants of school buses (113) in school-bus-related crashes nationwide. A total of 218 school-age children (18 and younger) died in school-bus-related crashes in the U.S. during that period, either as occupants of school buses or other vehicles, or on foot or bike. Of the 218 deaths, 85 were children who were walking.
As for parents, reinforcing safety rules can't be done too often. Remind children to use sidewalks or walk well off the side of the road if there is no sidewalk and cross only at crosswalks.
Parents should also check children's bookbags and, later in the season, their jackets and coats for hanging drawstrings that could become lodged in a car or bus door and result in injury when the vehicle pulls away.
Also, older students shouldn't be excluded from a good talking to about safety when they are driving to or from school or to or from an extracurricular event.
For many motorists, slowing down a bit this time of year may not be welcome news. Traveling slowly past a school and stopping behind a school bus could be seen as an inconvenience, but the alternative -- hurting a child, or worse -- is something no one ever wants to experience.