The Ministry of Education and the Bus and Coach Association are reminding caregivers and road users that with schools starting back, so too are the school buses.

That means we all need to be vigilant to help keep students safe while travelling to and from their school bus stop.

“The start of the year is a high-risk time for school bus safety,” says Bus and Coach Association chief executive, Delaney Myers.

“Students are out of practice on how to safely travel to and from their school bus stop, and road users have gotten used to not having the school buses around.”

She says that students should be supervised on their way to and from the bus stop, and taught to stand well back from the road and wait until the bus has departed after they alight before they move.

The Ministry of Education’s school transport group manager James Meffan, agrees.

“The most dangerous part of the school bus journey is once students get off the bus in the afternoon,” he says.

“We really encourage caregivers to wait on the same side of the road as the bus stop when meeting the bus in the afternoon, to avoid the risk of their child running across the road.”

Road users can also play their part in keeping students safe by sticking to the speed limit when passing a school bus.

“The speed limit for passing a stopped school bus in either direction is 20 km/h.

Children can behave unpredictably, so please keep to the speed limit and expect the unexpected,” Delaney says.

Below are some simple steps that caregivers can take to help keep their children safe:

Teach your child how to cross roads safely

• Drop off and pick up your child on the same side of the road as the bus stop
• Teach your child not to run across the road
• Always take your child to and from the bus stop
• Teach your child always to get out of the car on the side closest to the curb

“It’s vitally important that we all do our bit to keep our students safe while they travel to and from school by bus” says James.