MAUMEE, Ohio — This week, school officials are highlighting the importance of safety when it comes to students riding the school bus.
If you think about fire drills and tornado drills we all did in school, we also had to learn how to safely evacuate off the bus. This teaches students what to do if something were to happen. However, there are other safety features that aren't necessarily taught, but will keep your children safe.
School buses are designed so that they're highly visible and include safety features. Things like flashing red lights, cross-view mirrors and stop-sign arms. They also include protective seating, high crush standards and rollover protection features.
We all know school buses are different from other vehicles in the fact that they don't have seat belts, but that's because they have a different kind of safety restraint system. Large school buses are heavier and distribute crash forces differently than other vehicles, which helps passengers experience much less crash force in a bus.
Maumee City Schools' transportation supervisor, Joel Hefner, said at the end of the day though, teaching the students how to evacuate in an emergency is the number one safety lesson.
"We just completed our first round of them this week and I just have to say the kids did a fabulous job. I was there to observe them and the students listened to their bus drivers, they followed their directions, they did a very nice job," he explained. "So, it's just really important because you can't plan when there's an emergency, but you can plan to be prepared for an emergency."
Hefner said the number one thing drivers need to assume when approaching a school bus, is that it's full of children. He explained that means go slow, keep your distance and pay close attention to the warning lights.
It is illegal to pass a school bus when the lights are flashing or the stop arm is down. Hefner said it's easy for motorists to become frustrated when driving behind a school bus because it's making several stops, but he urges you to have patience.
"Think about the importance of what's going on and realize what you do, your actions, how safely you drive your vehicle around the school bus is very, very important," he explained. "So, please keep that in mind because we're all out there for the same reason: to keep everyone safe."
The theme for this year's School Bus Safety Week is "1 bus + 1 driver = a big impact on education."
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