Stay Safe While Boarding and Exiting School Buses

By Yehudit Garmaise

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, once children are on a school bus, they can be 70 times safer traveling to school than by car.

Boarding and exiting school buses can be so dangerous that parents must teach and enforce extra safety precautions to keep children safe.

The following tips and rules can keep children safe during bus pickups and drop-offs.

1. Children should be ready at their bus stops five minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive. Getting into a schedule that is not rushed can help ensure that children do not run, nor do anything reckless, to catch the bus.

2. Stay with children until they have safely boarded the bus. 

3. Children should only move off the sidewalk once the bus comes to a complete stop and after making eye contact with the bus driver before crossing to board the bus.

4. Teach children that if they drop something on the road getting on or off the bus, they should not bend down to get it, as the drivers cannot see children once they bend down on the street to pick things up. Instead, if they are boarding the bus, they should leave the item, get onto the bus, and inform the bus driver. If they drop something while exiting the bus, they should continue on to the sidewalk, where they can signal to the driver or ask another adult for help. 

5. Remind children to walk on the sidewalk when available and never walk behind school buses once they have gotten off the bus.