To help ensure that students arrive to and from school safely each day, parents should take note of the following school bus safety tips:

• Be sure your child arrives at his/her bus stop five minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive.
• When the bus approaches, remind your child to stand at least five giant steps away from the curb and line up away from the bus.
• Tell your child never to run after the school bus if it has already left the bus stop.
• Make sure to tell your child never to run in front of or behind the school bus to pick up something that he/she dropped or forgot.
• Your child should never get on the bus until it has completely stopped.
• After the bus stops and the door opens, remind your child to take firm hold of the handrail and get onto the bus.
• Tell your child he/she should never push another student while getting on or off the bus.
• Remind your child that he/she should go directly to a seat and sit quietly. This allows the bus driver to concentrate on driving safely.
• Tell your child never to place any part of his/her body through the bus window.

When outside of the bus, make sure your child is aware of the danger zones and is always within sight of the bus driver. The Danger Zone is a 10-foot wide area on all sides of a school bus – an area where children are in the most danger of being hit. Children should be taught to stay 10 feet away from a school bus (or as far away as they can) and never go behind it. They should be told to take five giant steps in front of the bus before crossing so the driver can see them.

Please review the following bus safety reminders for all motorists and share them with a neighbor or friend:

• Never pass on the right side of a school bus where children enter or exit. This is illegal and can have tragic results.
• Yellow flashing lights mean the bus is preparing to stop and load or unload children. Motorists need to slow down and prepare to stop.
• Red flashing lights and an extended stop arm mean the bus has stopped and children are boarding or exiting the bus. Motorists must come to a complete stop a safe distance from the bus and wait until the red lights stop flashing, the stop arm is retracted, and the bus begins moving before they start driving again.