TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo Public School's Transportation Department transports around 2,500 students every day, but with school starting and updated bus routes, safety and changes are things officials want drivers to be more aware of.
Cindy Fox, director of TPS transportation, said paying attention is key to making sure kids are safe and that drivers need to plan for changing traffic around school zones in their commute.
"You know there's a lot of yellow buses that they're not used to, so maybe their timing is off to get to where they need to be," Fox said. "So just be cautious and get off your cellphones and pay attention to who's on the road."
The department teaches students safety measures, but it wants drivers to learn how to be aware, too, since students may not always follow along.
"We have hand signals that we work with the kids with, we give them places of safety where they are to get off the bus and remain there till the bus leaves. That way, there's no possibility for tragedies or any accidents to happen," onboarding instructor Cassandra Sanchez said.
The ages of students who use TPS transportation are preschool all the way up to high school. Now schools are having to change routes for the buses due to a shortage of drivers, Fox said.
"We don't have the random stops closer to a lot of people's homes," she said. "We have to go to corner stops, which is mostly what we do. So that's been a big change for us."
Sanchez said that can cause kids to not know where to walk, which could be a threat to drivers too.
"Kids that are not at the right corners are crossing even when they're not at the right crosswalk," she said. "Just be alert at all times because not every kid is going to go to a corner like they should."
Fox and Sanchez also want to emphasize that you must stop behind a bus and also must stop if you're on the opposite lane from a bus in Ohio. If you are on a four lane highway with or without a center lane, however, you do not need to if you are driving in the opposite direction.
It's important to watch out for these buses because they said many accidents that happen outside of school zones are cars rear-ending buses.