National School Bus Safety Week is Oct. 21-25. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is urging drivers to slow down and be aware of school buses in their communities. Although school buses are one of the safest modes of transportation, injuries and fatalities do occur outside of or near the buses. Most often, these tragedies occur because a motorist has failed to slow down and obey the bus’s stop sign, or to follow local traffic laws. Nationally, school bus passing is illegal and it is a deadly risk to bus riders and their caretakers. Drivers should always come to a complete stop when a school bus stop-arm is extended and the red lights are flashing.
From 2013 to 2022, there were 1.5 times more fatalities among pedestrians (169) than occupants of school buses (111) in school-bus-related crashes.
Respect the “Danger Zone”
The school bus loading and unloading area is called the “Danger Zone.” Specifically, this is any side of the bus where the bus driver can’t see the child and, therefore, the child is in the most danger. These areas include:
- 10 feet in front of the bus, where the driver may be sitting too high to see a child
- 10 feet on either side of the bus, where a child may be in the driver’s blind spots
- Behind the school bus
NHTSA has traffic safety marketing information that can be used by schools and school districts at trafficsafetymarketing.gov/safety-topics/school-bus-safety
For more information about school bus stop safety, please visit nhtsa.gov/road-safety/school-bus-safety#the-topic-bus-stop-safety.