Safety Tips For Parents

As parents, you are an important part of a total safety program for children who travel by school bus. Children need to learn to be safe pedestrians as they walk to and from the bus as well as to be safe riders when they are on the bus. Here's how you can help:

Getting Ready for School

• Have your children put everything they carry in a backpack or school bag so that they won't drop things on the way.
• Have them wear bright, contrasting colors so drivers will more easily see them.
• Make sure they leave home on time so they can walk to the bus stop and arrive before the bus is due. Running is dangerous.

Walking to the Bus Stop

• Go to the bus stop with young children and have older children walk in groups. There is safety in numbers because groups are easier for drivers to see.
• Don't let pre-school children or pets go with your child to the bus stop. They can be in danger near traffic.
• Practice good pedestrian behavior: walk on the sidewalk. If there is no sidewalk, stay out of the street.
• If you must walk in the street, walk single file, face traffic and stay as close to the edge of the road as possible. Stop and look left, right, and then left again if you must cross the street. Do the same thing at driveways and alleys. Exaggerate your head turns and narrate your actions so your child knows you are looking right and left.

Waiting at the Bus Stop

• Don't let your child play running games or push and shove at the bus stop. It is too dangerous!
• Make sure your child stands at least 10 feet (5 giant steps) from the road while waiting for the bus. The child will then be out of the way of traffic. Have younger children practice taking 5 giant steps so they become familiar with 10 feet.

 

 

Getting On and Off the Bus

• Make children stay at least 10 feet away from the bus until they begin to enter. Children will then be able to see the driver and the driver will be able to see them.
• If children must cross the street to the bust, they should cross 10 feet in front of the bus where they can see the driver and the driver can see them.
• Warn children that if they drop something, they should never pick it up. Instead, they should tell the driver and follow the drivers instructions. If a child bends over to pick up a dropped object, the driver may not see them and the child could be hurt.
• Remind children to look to the right before they step off the bus. Drivers in a hurry sometimes try to sneak by busses on the right.
• Teach your children to secure loose drawstrings and other objects that may get caught in the handrail or door of the bus as they are exiting.
• Give your child a note or call the Transportation Office if you would like for the child to get off the bus at a stop other than the one they are assigned. The driver isn't allowed to let a child off at another stop without permission.
• If you meet your child at the bus stop after school, wait on the side where the child will be dropped off, not across the street. Children can be so excited at seeing you after school that they dash across the street and forget safety rules.

Riding the Bus

• Remind your children to be good bus riders. They should: talk quietly, be courteous to the driver and follow the driver's instructions, keep the aisles clear, and stay seated for the entire bus ride.

 

Information provided by:

 

Iowa Department of Education

School Transportation Office

Q:  Why dont school buses have seat belts?

 

School buses are the safest way to transport your children to and from school.  The color and size of school buses make them easily visible and identifiable, their height provides good driver visibility and raises the bus passenger compartment above car impact height; and emergency vehicles are the only other vehicle on the road that can stop traffic like a school bus can.

 

School buses are carefully designed on a different transportation and protection model than the average passenger car.  The children are protected like eggs in an egg carton - compartmentalized, and surrounded with padding and structural integrity to secure the entire container.  The seat back is are raised and the shell is reinforced for protection against impact.

 

There are other differences to consider between your car and our childs school bus.  In your car, you can supervise your child and ensure that your childs belt remains properly secured. School buses use what is called passive restraint, meaning all a child must do to be protected is simply sit down in a seat.  School buses also must be designed to be multi-purpose, fitting everything from a six year-old to an 18 year-old senior on the high school football team in full uniform. sometimes its two to a seat, other times three.

 

Because of this, emphasis is placed on protecting the entire valuable cargo.