Each day 8,795 school buses in Kentucky transport over 385,000 students on school buses. Every day, drivers in other vehicles pass school buses while they are loading and unloading students, which can cause injuries and even death.
As part of our safety awareness campaign in Kentucky, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), Paula Allen, a Kentucky School Bus Driver Trainer, and the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety put together information to help spread safety awareness.
If any school or church bus used in the transportation of children is stopped upon a highway for the purpose of receiving or discharging passengers, with the stop arm and signal lights activated, the operator of a vehicle approaching from any direction shall bring his vehicle to a stop and shall not proceed until the bus has completed receiving or discharging passengers and has been put into motion. The stop requirement provided for in this section shall not apply to vehicles approaching a stopped bus from the opposite direction upon a highway of four (4) or more lanes.
I PLEDGE:
To have a POSITIVE ATTITUDE toward every school bus I meet every day.
To remember that the precious cargo the school bus carries is someone’s child
and that child is the future of my community and nation.
To not be angry when they STOP for students to load or unload.
To obey the laws that are meant to keep our little brothers and sisters safe.
To take a deep breath, leave a few minutes early and arrive safely.
Take these steps to help keep our students safe!
1. Watch the Videos
Videos have been created to help students learn the rules of getting to the school bus safely. There are videos for K-3rd, 4th-8th, and 6th-12th grades.
2. Talk About School Bus Safety
Take 5-10 minutes to talk to the students about the videos and answer their questions. It is so important for our students to follow the rules, whether waiting for the bus or sharing the road with the bus. Our students lives depend on everyone following the rules.
3. Take The PledgeWe ask student drivers, parents, guardians, members of the community to take the pledge. This pledge recognizes the school buses and the children that ride in them. Those who take the pledge are pledging to have a positive attitude towards school buses, remembering there are children on the bus, and the laws are in place to keep the children safe and make sure they arrive at their destination safely. After taking the pledge, they can receive a wallet sized card with the pledge on it and on the other side of the card, an area for emergency contact information.
For some districts, signing the pledge may mean that student drivers are given permission to drive on school property. Signing the pledge may be a great way to ask staff to take responsibility and keep an eye out for parents, students and other staff who might be passing buses, and reporting safety issues that they see. The ultimate goal of the program is to bring awareness to the issue and have zero injuries or fatalities while loading or unloading children.
5. Spread Awareness
School bus and danger zone cut-outs can be used for names of those who pledge to keep our students safe. They can display them throughout the school and community. Local businesses can also to help spread awareness.
Pass out coloring pages with and be sure to put the bus safety flyer in their backpacks!
Crossing the Street
7. Make It KnownDon’t be afraid to contact your local news station, radio stations and billboard companies to help bring the awareness! There are free PSA’s that can be used.