School
will be in session in a few days, which means there will be more child
pedestrians and school buses on the road soon. We've gathered some back-to-school driver safety tips to keep in mind when you're driving during
the school year:
1. All 50 states have a law making it illegal to pass a school bus that is stopped to load or unload children.
2. School buses use yellow flashing
lights to alert motorists that they are preparing to load or unload
children. Red flashing lights and an extended stop sign arm will let
motorists know that the bus is stopped and is loading or unloading
children.
3. In all 50 states, it is the law that all traffic behind the school bus (traveling in the same direction) must stop.
4. It is illegal to pass a school bus on the right. Failure to comply to this law can result in tragic consequences.
5. The area 10 feet around a school bus
is where children are in the most danger of being hit. Stop your car far
enough from the bus to allow children the necessary space to safely
enter and exit the bus.
6. Children are the least predictable pedestrians and the most difficult to
see. Take extra care to look out for children not only in school zones,
but also in residential areas, playgrounds and parks.
7. Don’t honk your horn, rev your engine or do anything to rush or scare a
pedestrian in front of your car, even if you have the legal
right-of-way.
8. Always stop when directed to do so by a school patrol sign, school patrol officer or designated crossing guard.
9. In a school zone when a warning flasher
or flashers are blinking, you must stop to yield the right-of-way to a
pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or at an
intersection with no marked crosswalk.
10. Drivers should not block the crosswalk
when stopped at a red light or waiting to make a turn. Do not stop with a
portion of your vehicle over the crosswalk.
