The Danger Zone: School Bus Safety

The Ride

A 70 some odd seat school bus weighs about 27,000 pounds. This is not information I knew until last night when I rode in such a school bus. I can't tell you the last time I did that. I grew up in a small town where only the farm kids rode the bus to school. So, it was a rare occasion that I ever rode a school bus.

Last night, we attended a School Bus Safety/End of Summer Party at a local library. The point was to introduce the inexperienced Kindergarteners to riding a bus and talk to them about school bus safety, etc. So, our whole family took a turn riding around the neighborhood in big yellow bus.

Darling 1 chose the first row of seating, which was great because it enabled me {& Darling 1} to pepper the friendly, but loud and burly driver with questions. He was a good sport about it, and I learned quite a bit. This driver's experience and outlook was very positive, which made me feel better about the prospect of bus riding in our future.

School Bus Safety Record

Thankfully {for my sake}, Darling 1 will not be riding a school bus on a daily basis for at least the next six years of school due to our location. And yet, over 24 million students ride more than 450,000 big yellow school buses every school day all across the United States. That's a lot of school buses and a lot of kids.

While the School Bus Information Clearinghouse is quick to point out that busing is the safest way for kids to get to school and back, citing the approximate 800 vehicular and pedestrian deaths of school-aged children each year compared to the handful of deaths related to school bus riding, a Minnesota Department of Public Safety (MN DPS) brochure states that 72% of the child fatalities involving school buses occur outside of the school bus.

The Zone

So, it appears that riding a school bus is safe, but getting on and off a school bus is dangerous. The MN DPS brochure describes the "Danger Zone" as the main safety issue. The Danger Zone is the area within 10 feet around the entire school bus. The most treacherous areas of the Danger Zone are: 1) the area directly in front and around the front tires of the bus; and 2) the back right side around the back right tire.

MN DPS warns that a child should NEVER be in the Danger Zone unless loading or unloading, and even then the child should only be in the area directly across from the door. It's important to discuss this information with your child and demonstrate what 10 feet looks like so your child clearly understands where to stand while waiting for the bus.

Another safety issue mentioned by our school bus driver last night was a bus stop hazard, which involves the Danger Zone. He told us to make sure our child stands well away from the edge of the curb while waiting for the bus to arrive and stop. If a child is standing near the street, the bus driver doesn't know if the child is going to step off {or fall off} the curb or get too close to the bus before it has come to a complete stop, etc. This means the bus must slowly approach the stop while hoping the child doesn't step off the curb into the on-coming bus.

Driver Awareness/The Law

Another component of bus safety is making sure that drivers are aware of the laws requiring them to stop and the safety issues involved in stopping for a school bus. This can be tricky. I try to play it safe and always stop if a school bus is stopped, even though sometimes the bus driver will wave me around, depending on the circumstance.

Again, according to my trusty MN DPS brochure, this is what you need to know as a driver, whether you have a child riding a school bus or not, this is important:

• On a two-lane road, you must stop when you approach a stopped school bus from the front;
• When you approach a school bus from behind, when its red lights are flashing and its stop arm is extended, you may not pass on either side! Stop 20 feet from the bus.
• When you approach a stopped school bus from any direction, you must stop when the red lights are flashing and the stop arm is extended.
• When you intend to turn (in any direction) into a street where a school bus is stopped with red lights flashing and stop arm extended, you must stop and wait, before turning, until the red lights are off and the stop arm is withdrawn.

~ From A Child's Life, a brochure produced by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety, Minnesota State Patrol and Office of Communications, 2000.

If you break the law by failing to stop as described above, these crimes are considered Misdemeanors, but can be increased to a Gross Misdemeanor under certain circumstancs. These offenses are punishable by a fine of $1,000 to $3,000 and jail for a minimum of 90 days and a maximum of 1 year.

Overall, the MN DPS brochure stresses that awareness is the key to safety; awareness on the part of the drivers, the parents and the kids. And awareness is achieved by talking and sharing information. We must look out for not only our own children, but also others who may not know about the Danger Zone or other safety issues or laws.

The Scoop

This information specifically pertains to MN, but the Danger Zone is the same with any bus, anywhere, and the motorist laws regarding when to stop for a bus are pretty general, and more than likely pertain to most, if not all, states. But, you can find laws and regulations and punishments that specifically concern your state by running a quick search on school bus laws + {your state}.

Does {or will} your child ride the bus to and/or from school? Does {or will} your child ride another form of mass transit to and/or from school? Have you had any bad/good experiences regarding school buses? In the next post, I'll be discussing school bus drivers' requirements, including drug and alcohol testing, background checks, licensing, etc. Over and out...

Anna

You might also like:

The Changing Seasons: Types of Schools Available to American Children

The Measure of an Education: A Look at U.S. Education System Statistics

A Plea to MN Public Educators

Birds of a Feather: Tips for Choosing the Best School for Your Child

Comments

[glb]

Being an aware, careful and diligent driver is not enough. Bus driver's are given an inherent power in regards to this law. A police officer is not present, but can issue a citation on the driver’s testimony. The Minnesota law has teeth and there are very few options for a driver that is cited.

Also, you did not mention that this is also a gross misdemeanor if children are present. One step below a felony and it will stay on your record forever. I say forever, rather than the 15 years a misdemeanor would because of another recent law that has made it next to impossible to expunge your record in Minnesota.

[The Slacker Mom]

My boys have been getting on the bus since January- they were just barely 2 years old. It has not been the typical introduction to bussing that I had expected (at age 5!).

On their first day of school, their bus was hit by a driver who ran a stop sign at the end of our street. We watched it happen while we were waiting for the bus to pick them up. They didn't ride the bus that day as the driver (obviously) called in the accident and had to wait for the police to come.

Since then it has been smooth sailing. Although when the BIG bus came to pick them up on their first day of summer school I about died. I was expecting a short bus. My two little 29 pound boys climbing up the steps of the bus with me following them in disbelief...I'm hoping we have a short bus in the fall.