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School Bus Tips

Many kids use a bus service to get to school each day, and while most will do so in complete safety, accidents can happen. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 19 kids are killed each year when getting on or off a school bus. A few tips should, therefore, be followed by kids to keep safe when using a school bus. School staff and other motorists should be aware of a few pointers to keep kids safe, too.

  1. Keep Your Distance

    • Children should be aware that the area immediately around a school bus is especially dangerous. According to the Sunday School Safety website, it's best that kids keep a distance of at least 10 feet away from a school bus unless boarding it. If the school bus is equipped with arms --- safety devices that indicate where to walk --- kids should be taught to follow this guideline.

    Approaching the Bus

    • Children should be taught to remember that approaching a bus in a sensible and orderly fashion will not only prevent arguments between kids but also keep everyone safe; teach kids that they should board the bus one at a time and without shoving or pushing. Children should wait until the bus is fully stopped before approaching. Typically, a bus driver will gesture to kids when she considers it safe for them to board, so kids should learn to await this signal.

    Leaving the Bus

    • Remind kids that other road users can be a danger to them while they're getting off the bus; children should learn to look for vehicles that might approach on the side of the road. After they've left the bus, children should move away quickly to avoid standing in a risky area.

    Stay in Sight

    • Kids run a huge risk whenever they disappear from a driver's vision, so teach them to ensure that the bus driver can see them as he drives his vehicle. Kids should keep personal items in a backpack or similar container to avoid dropping things on the floor, which might lead to them bending down and thus disappearing from a driver's view.

    Cars and Buses

    • Adults in other vehicles must remember to carefully observe the warning signs given out by school buses. For example, if the school bus shows a red light, the bus driver is about to stop and other drivers shouldn't attempt to pass the bus; in some states, even vehicles traveling in the opposite direction are required to stop, as described by the NHTSA website.

    Bus Stop Location

    • When installing a school bus stop, local authorities should remember that certain locations will increase the danger of accidents and should therefore be avoided. Intersections, for example, which typically get busy with vehicles, are locations to avoid. Bus stops should be placed away from areas which offer poor visibility to drivers, too.

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