Our view: School bus safety week is every day

ALEA’s highlighting National School Bus Safety Week with a reminder about the importance of school bus safety is more than timely — it’s just in time if we’re going to reverse a concerning trend.

Statistically, school buses are the safest way to transport children to and from school and school activities. Yet, already in 2022 the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency reports that there have been 394 school bus-related crashes in the state, including one fatality. That number, unfortunately, is tracking with 2021 stats indicating that there were 565 school bus-related crashes in Alabama, also including a loss of life.

October’s annual national school bus safety campaign serves as a reminder to all drivers, students and school bus operators that keeping children safe on their daily travels is a team effort. Typically, though, it is the motorist part of the equation that fails: illegal school bus passing serves as the largest threat to a child’s safety.

We all know the rules, but since school has been in session for a few weeks and lest we get lulled into complacency, it’s worth reiterating from the ALEA: “Drivers are required to stop for school buses loading or unloading passengers, and children should also check both ways and proceed with caution when crossing a roadway.”

Most children harmed in school bus accidents are not those who are safely on the bus — but those who are actually outside of it. This is why paying attention to the yellow warning lights signifying a bus is about to stop is so important. That’s our alert to pay even closer attention just prior to the lights turning red and the stop sign displayed.

Too often — and once is too often, let alone 394 times this year, already — motorists fail to stop for these warnings, and this is when children are struck.

Motorists, the largest burden is on us. Slow and stop for stopped school buses on two-lane roads, and when traffic is driving in the same direction as a bus on four-lane roads. In all cases, don’t resume travel until the bus begins moving first.

National School Bus Safety Week may come once a year, but there are lessons for all of us — and something we need to practice every day.