As the big yellow school buses hit the road once again, other drivers, students and parents can keep a few rules in mind to keep everyone safe — whether it’s at the bus stop, on the bus, on the road or even in the school parking lot.
By bus
Most students head to school by bus and schools have a good safety track record, but Bayhealth-Milford Memorial Hospital Trauma Program Coordinator Judi Graybeal, RN, said the area still has approximately one fatality per year.
“To me one fatality for a child is too many,” she said.
Graybeal also has seen a number of injuries such as broken bones when there’s sun glare and the driver doesn’t see the children at a bus stop or kids are too far into the road.
Basically, the students don’t see the driver and the driver doesn’t see them.
William Morris, the recently retired transportation supervisor of Lake Forest School District, agrees that bus stops can be tricky for drivers.
“Sometimes horseplay can be a real problem at a bus stop,” he said. “Kids think it is fine but it can be a real problem.”
Graybeal suggests designating a stay-at-home parent to watch over multiple kids at the bus stop or trade the duty off to keep fooling around at a minimum. This can prevent problems, such as a student being teased who may dart across the street to get away.
One way to really help drivers before students even get on the bus is to make sure address and phone numbers always are correct in school records, Morris said. This information, which districts struggle to keep up to date, can help make sure drivers know where to go and give schools a way to reach parents in an emergency.
With 114 runs per day, he said Lake Forest School District only has one or two incidents per year, usually involving a bus and another vehicle, with the vast majority of those having inattentive driving on the part of the vehicle.
Even though students don’t wear seatbelts on a bus, as long as they face forward and stay seated, Morris pointed out they’ll remain safe on the bus “just like eggs in a carton.”
It’s difficult for people to understand that it would nearly impossible to have seatbelts on a bus because there’s no one who could police the enforcement, he added.
Bus drivers are trained extensively to deal with students and the rules of the roads, Morris said. They are aided by the nearly 80% of buses that come equipped with cameras.
“Drivers have certain expectation just like teachers in the classrooms,” Morris said. “There are certain dos and don’ts.”
One “do” that drivers will have to follow this year is a new state law that requires even empty school buses to come to a stop at all railroad tracks, he added.
By car
Dover High School Principal Eugene Montaño deals with a whole slew of drivers from parents dropping off kids to juniors and seniors who have their own transportation.
The school keeps a sharp eye on those who break rules and student drivers will lose their privileges for a short time or even the whole year if they act recklessly.
“I’ve given community service to students who have lead feet,” he said.
“At times, some think this is set up like Dover Downs raceway because it’s circular driveway,” Montaño added.
He said students get presentations geared to safe driving during driver’s education and school officials make sure junior and senior drivers know what is and isn’t allowed. Parents also get reminders about where to drop off kids in the school newsletter.
There haven’t been many actual accidents on school grounds; it’s mostly a matter of speeding with people coming quickly around the building trying to leave too fast, Montaño said. Last year student drivers had two fender benders and two school buses hit each other when leaving.
“Slow down, be safe and be very attentive because our children are the most precious thing to our heart,” he advises, not only for vehicle drivers but for bus drivers as well.
This year Dover High will be using a sign that tracks speed after it was donated in the hopes of keeping vehicles moving slowly. In addition, he said Dover police are able to give tickets on the road to the school and in the past they have called in officers with radar.
For parent drivers dropping off students, Craig Wearden, principal of W. Reily Brown Elementary School, said the major problem is making sure cars aren’t double parked and children are getting out on the curbside.
“A lot of times it’s me or another staff member who will jump out and shut the door and say, ‘Not on that side,’” he said.
By foot
Ninety percent of W. Reily Brown Elementary School’s student population walks to school. Wearden said with the school being located on busy Webbs Lane, it’s a unique challenge to make sure all walkers get to and from school safely.
Brown has two crossing guards and also receives help from the Dover Police Department, he added.
One of the major challenges is making sure students coming from apartments like Crossgates and Mayfair are walking all the way down the street and then crossing at the cross walk, Wearden said.
Members of the community are really good about calling when they see a student jaywalking across Webbs Lane, he added. Someone will call and say they saw a kid in a green jacket jump across the road, and then school officials will find that student and pull him aside for a reminder.
One thing the school has to its advantage now that it is newly renovated is a designated bus lane so on days when it’s raining and students are dropped off the congestion will be at a minimum, Wearden said.
Email Jayne Gest at jayne.gest@doverpost.com.
