By Staff
Our View
It's that time of year again. The dog days of summer are here and school for our children will be back in session Monday.
That also means those big yellow school buses will once again be on the roads, transporting our children to and from school.
Please keep an eye out for school buses stopping to pick up and drop off our children. Parents remind your children of good safety rules for conduct at bus stops.
Here are a number of good tips from Trooper Waters of the Alabama Highway Patrol and other sources.
Whether on a city street, highway or county road, and regardless of the speed limit and the number of lanes, motorists travelling in both directions must stop when approaching a stopped school bus with its lights flashing. A flashing stop arm will swing out while passengers are entering or leaving the bus.
All lanes of traffic must remain stopped until after the bus's stop arm has fully retracted.
Stop at least 100 feet from a stopped bus.
When approaching the front of the bus from the opposite direction stop at a safe distance.
Do not start moving until the red lights have stopped flashing, the STOP arm folds away and the bus begins to move.
Failure to follow these warnings could result in a traffic ticket and a fine. Worse, it could wind up hurting a child.