Lexington Park, MD – On Oct. 26, of this year, a dump truck struck the back of a Charles County Public Schools bus with 17 students inside. Four days later, in Rochester, Indiana, a young woman struck and killed three siblings, 6-year-old twins Xzavier and Mason Ingle and their 9-year-old sister Alivia Stahl. A fourth child, aged 11, was also injured, suffering multiple broken bones. A month later Skyla Shirriel, 7, was struck by a truck in Bryantown.

Former bus driver Earl Yarington, of Pasadena wrote to the Capital Gazette, talking about his experience with drivers ignoring school bus lights and signs. “My experience has taught me that when drivers see the yellow lights, they try to race through them. Others simply drive right through them. There is no excuse for such inconsiderate and dangerous behavior.”

School bus laws, when adhered to, are designed to keep students safe as they travel to and from school. Recently parents have become understandably concerned with school bus safety, so below are the laws that pertain to school buses and some statistics from various transportation and school organizations.

In the yearly National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey produced by the Kansas Department of Education, the number of students who have died during the loading and unloading process since 2008 is detailed. Last school year only six students ranging from 6-15 years old were killed in six different states. The most at risk are students aged 9 and under who make up 73 percent of loading/unloading fatalities in the last 48 years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a report on School-Transportation-Related Crashes based on data provided from 2007-2016. The report shows that of the 320,874 fatal crashes from 2007-2016 only 0.4 percent (1,147) were “school-transportation-related crashes.”

The Maryland MVA website outlines the “Danger Zone” for students and details exactly when drivers need to stop for school buses. “The greatest risk is not when riding in the bus, but approaching or leaving the bus.” The web site then states that an average of 19 children die every year getting on and off the bus. The “danger zone” is anywhere that is not directly in front of the bus’s door. The other danger is crossing too close in front of the bus, out of view of the bus driver.

As for the laws drivers must adhere to, drivers must prepare to stop when the school bus has on its yellow flashing lights. Motorists must stop if the bus has on its red flashing lights and the stop sign/arm is extended. The only exception to this is four-lane highways with a median or divider. This means that regular four-lane highways without separation, two-lane highways with a center turn lane, and regular two-lane highways require drivers in all direction to stop for school buses.

The MVA suggests that parents teach their children some safety tips including, wait for the bus driver to signal it is okay to go, look both ways before exiting the bus and “take five ‘giant steps’ out from the front of the bus or until the driver’s face can be seen.”

The NHTSA web site assures parents and students that school buses are still the best means of transportation to school. “Students are about 70 times more likely to get to school safely when taking a bus instead of traveling by car.

For more information check any of the articles, web sites, and reports linked in the article.

Contact Jerold at staffwriter@thebaynet.com.