In North Dakota, 40,000+ children ride a school bus every day. Few things are more important than ensuring that those students, who range in age from pre-K to seniors in high school, get to and from school safely. October 18-22 is National School Bus Safety Week – a time to raise awareness of the roles that students, parents, teachers, drivers and the community have in making sure that happens.

Did you know:

• That school buses are the most regulated vehicles on the road?
• That school busses are designed to be safer than passenger vehicles in preventing crashes and injuries?

So once they’re ON the bus, kids are pretty safe, it’s getting on and off where the danger lies.

You can keep the children in our community safe by avoiding driving through school zones during before- and after-school hours, and by following some simple safety tips:

• When leaving your driveway or your garage, watch closely for children walking or bicycling to school.
• When driving in neighborhoods with school zones, watch out for young people in a hurry to get to the bus or school.
• Watch for children playing and congregating near bus stops.
• Learn and obey the school bus laws as well as the “flashing signal light system” that school bus drivers use to alert motorists of pending actions: It’s estimated that over 10 million drivers illegally pass school buses every year!
  • Yellow flashing lights indicate the bus is preparing to stop to load or unload children. Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop their vehicles.
  • Red flashing lights and extended stop arms indicate the bus has stopped and children are getting on or off. Motorists must stop their cars and wait until the red lights stop flashing, the extended stop-arm is withdrawn, and the bus begins moving before they can start driving again.

Want a refresher course on safe driving that will lower your insurance rates? Interested in becoming a school bus driver? The NDSC can help. Contact Terry Weaver, Driver Safety Manager at 701-751-6106 or terryw@ndsc.org to learn more.