Cheney School District driver trainer and router specialist Athena Dunham wants drivers to remember two very basic ideas when it comes to school buses.
“First of all, when they see school buses they need to exercise caution no matter what because kids don’t always make good decisions,” Dunham said.
Second, be observant of the bus’s lights: Amber, which means the bus is slowing down and about to stop, and red, which means what it always has meant: Stop.
It’s part of the education campaign school districts are undertaking during National School Bus Safety Week, Oct. 16-20. The theme this year is “Stop on Red,” which Dunham said is meant to remind drivers of the importance of all vehicles stopping for the lights and bus stop paddles.
“It is the most dangerous time for our kiddos when we are loading and unloading,” Dunham said.
Cheney has 52-53 routes where safety measures need to be accentuated and observed by everyone, including drivers and students. In Eagle Ridge alone there are four routes, three in West Terrace and another one to be added in Airway Heights.
Dunham said its recommended for drivers to be at least 12 feet from buses on all sides while the stop paddles are out for loading and unloading. This is also about the distance the paddles extend.
Bus drivers undergo extensive background checks and are regularly trained on procedures. The same applies to students and parents, who should pay attention to safe crossing methods and driver hand signals before crossing.
As the bus approaches, students should be 6-10 feet back from the roadway and wait for it to stop, paddles out and the door open. The driver will advise students when to cross using hand signals: palm out indicating wait, thumbs up meaning all motorists have stopped and thumbs up and extended index finger indicating it’s safe to cross and the direction to go.
Students crossing the street should do so at least 10 feet from the bus and always in front, never behind the bus.
Drivers should keep their vehicle stopped until the bus’s paddles have retracted and all lights have ceased flashing. Dunham said there can be a tendency for drivers to creep forward once students have crossed and appear to be inside the bus.
According to statistics from the American School Bus Council and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses are the safest way to transport students. In 2009, 58 percent of student fatalities occurred during travel by teen drivers, 23 percent during travel by adult drivers but only 1 percent when traveling by school bus.
A Cheney High graduate and local bus driver for 10 years, Dunham said they want to keep things “positive” during bus safety week, but did reveal one bus feature drivers may not know exist: paddle-mounted cameras. The cameras help district personnel identify license plates of drivers who violate the safety measures, with the information forwarded to the district’s school resource officer who will make a determination if a citation should be issued.
Dunham said the fine for running paddles is roughly $400.
“We don’t give that information to frighten people, but we don’t want our students to be hit,” she added.
More information on National School Bus Safety Week is available online at http://www.napt.org/nsbsw.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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