Things Kids Should Know About School Bus Safety:

· The bus driver and others cannot see you if you are standing closer than 10 feet to

the bus. Stay out of the danger zone!

· If something falls under or near the bus, tell the driver. NEVER try to pick it up

yourself!

· While waiting for the bus, stay in a safe place away from the street.

· When you get on or off the bus, look for the bus safety lights and make sure they

are flashing.

· Be alert to traffic. When you get on or off the bus, look left, right, left before you

enter or cross the street.

· When the driver says it is safe to cross the street, remember to CROSS IN FRONT

of the bus.

Parents play an important role in reinforcing school bus safety, by knowing the rules and talking to their children about them.

Students riding a school bus should always:

• Arrive at the bus stop five minutes early.

• Stand at least 5 giant steps (10 feet) away from the edge of the road. * Wait until the bus stops, the door opens, and the driver says it's okay before stepping onto the bus.

• Be careful that clothing and drawstrings and book bags with straps or dangling objects do not get caught in the handrail or door when exiting the bus.

• Check both ways for cars before stepping off the bus.

Crossing students should:

• Walk in front of the bus; never walk behind the bus.

• Walk on the sidewalk or along the side of the road to a point at least 10 giant steps ahead of the bus.

• Be sure the bus driver can see them, and they can see the bus driver.

• Wait for the driver's signal to cross.(This is extremely important so many well meaning parents will signal for their child to cross- the child needs to be watching the bus driver and waiting for a signal this is important because the parent may not always be there)

Things PARENTS should know about school bus safety:

• School buses are the safest form of highway transportation.

• The most dangerous part of the school bus ride is getting on and off the bus.

• Pedestrian fatalities (while loading and unloading school buses) account for approximately three times as many school bus-related fatalities, when compared to school bus occupant fatalities.

• The "Danger Zone" is the area on all sides of the bus where children are in the most danger of not being seen by the driver (ten feet in front of the bus where the driver may be too high to see a child, ten feet on either side of the bus where a child may be in the driver's blind spot, and the area behind the bus).

• Half of the pedestrian fatalities in school bus-related crashes are children between 5 and 7 years old.

Tips from the safety blogger.

• Practice safety everyday
• when picking your child up from a stop remember to be at the same spot everyday. To many times parents change corners it confuses the child and creates an extremely dangerous situation. 
• do not assume that because the driver has on their red lights and the stop arm is out that all cars and trucks will stop in this day and age of people talking and texting on the phone while driving many people do not stop the way they are supposed to which means the child needs to wait until they get a signal from the driver that its safe to cross.