Obey The Stop Arm
The safety of our children rests in our hands – the people who go about their daily routines and who might pass by the schools and zones where children get on and off the bus. This is true at least when it comes to school bus safety. I have had many posts on how parents and other motorists are responsible for the safety of the children around them and the Texas Department of Public Safety seems to have the same concerns.
Next week, they will be holding the School Bus Safety Week. It is set to run from the 20th of October through the 24th. The theme is “Avoid Harm, Obey the Stop Arm.” Obviously, the theme revolves around the concept of following safety signals, especially when children are boarding or getting off their school buses. The main principle behind the theme is a state law, which Col. Stan Clark of the DPS describes as:
Texas state law requires drivers to stop for school buses that are stopped and have activated their alternating red flashing lights. Drivers should not proceed until the school bus resumes motion; the driver is signaled by the bus driver to proceed, or the visual signal is no longer activated.
Though you may be in a hurry to get to work, or wherever it is that you are going, you should always put the safety of the children in first place – heed the stop arm. If a motorist is caught violating the law, he can be fined up to $1,000. If he gets convicted, he also pays the court costs. I say that this is a small price to pay in exchange for potentially saving the life of a child.
Other important points of the law which are going to be stressed during the School Bus Safety Week are:
If a road is divided only by a left-turning lane, drivers on both sides of the roadway must stop for school buses with alternating red flashing lights activated. However, if the lanes are separated by an intervening space or physical barrier, only motorists going in the same direction as the bus are required to stop. In neighborhoods, near schools, and at bus stops, drivers need to take special care because in most cases children cannot judge vehicle speed or distance.
Most of these, as you have probably noticed, are common sense! There is no arguing about it – we simply have to pay careful attention to what is going on around us and if we see that there are children on the curb, we should take utmost care and the best thing to do would be to slow down or come at a full stop.
If some of you think that these points are too stringent, think again. Statistics show that school buses are the one of the most safest modes of transportation in the state of Texas. Perusing their laws and their modes of enforcement, you will not wonder why it is so. I could only wish that other states would be so tough as well.
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Posted on October 15th, 2008 by Deborah J Thomas
Filed under: Administrators, High School, K-6, News, Parents, People Involved, School Grade Level, School Safety Issues, School bus safety
The week of Oct. 19-25 is Safe Schools Week. This week promotes keeping campuses free of crime and violence and increasing student attendance. It’s important because kids need to feel safe if they are to learn, says Joan Cole Duffell, executive director of Committee for Children, a nonprofit that produces programs and curriculum to keep students safe and free from violence.
She added, “A lot of kids come to school everyday and they’re faced with problems like bullying from their peers. They might be afraid to go to school. They may decide not to go to school that day. That has a huge impact on learning. So, putting this focus on keeping our kids safe at school is one of the best things we can do to improve their success throughout their lives.”
Visit http://www.cfchildren.org for classroom activities to promore safe schools all year around.