SCHOOL BUS SAFETY

With the new school year just underway, many children are now riding the school bus to and from school every day. To ensure safety, these children should know the rules for school bus safety before they develop habits on the bus that might jeopardize their daily safety.

School busses provide transportation for more than 20 million students nationwide and over 24,000 children in Knox County every day, but to children who do not follow safety rules, the school bus can be a source of injury.

The staff at East Tennessee Children's Hospital encourage parents to teach their children the following tips for school bus safety to ensure that every child arrives at school and back home safely when riding the school bus:

• Children should be at least five minutes early for the bus; this helps to prevent them from running to catch the bus and possibly falling or tripping.
• While waiting for the bus, stand back from the curb or at least ten feet from the road.
• If crossing the street to reach the bus cannot be avoided, wait for the driver's signal and then look both ways before crossing the street (look left, then right, then left again).
• Never walk behind the bus and always stay at least ten feet from all sides of the school bus.
• Do not push of shove while getting on or off the bus.
• When on the bus, stay in the seat and do not yell or shout.
• Always follow the bus driver's instruction.
• Hold onto the handrail when exiting the bus.
• Check to make sure there are no dangling objects on your child's clothing or backpack that could catch on the hand rail or bus door.
• Never reach under the bus for an object that was dropped. If something falls under the bus, tell the bus driver or wait until the bus leaves to retrieve it.
• If something is left on the bus, never run after the bus to get it.

Though following the rules for school bus safety will make a safer trip to and from school for your child, it is always best to have an adult at the bus stop every morning and every afternoon to help enforce these important safety rules.