School bus driver Marie Large, who drives bus 451, consistently reviews safety rules with her students. The frequent reviews are reminders to students about the importance of taking proper precautions when waiting on, ridding in, and getting on and off the school bus.
Large, like her fellow school bus drivers, repeat the rules often, and hope that their students are paying attention. One of her students recently demonstrated that he had been listening, and took the appropriate steps to ensure his safety outside of the school bus.
Daviontay Blan, a fifth-grade student at North Fayette Elementary, knew not to dart out into the street, in front of the school bus, to retrieve a notebook he had dropped. Instead, he did what he had been taught to do in these situations: leave the object, move out of the danger zone, wave to get the driver’s attention, and then wait for the driver to signal that it is safe to pick up the object.
“After dropping off students at the school bus stop, I noticed that one of my students was still standing in the center of the road, in front of the bus, on the left side, after all the others had crossed,” Large said. “He waived his arms at me and got my attention. Then he pointed downward, and I noticed a notebook lying on the ground. I motioned to him that it was okay to pick up the notebook after I had checked the mirrors to make sure no other vehicles were approaching. He picked up his notebook, and I proceeded to wave him across the second half the road.”
Daviontay followed the rules exactly, and now serves as a role model for his fellow school bus riders. He is also receiving high praise from Large.
“I am so proud of Daviontay, he did every thing right and stayed safe. He has truly been listening to me consistently go over all of the safety rules,” said Large.
National School Bus Safety Week is Oct. 19-23, and the theme just happens to be “Be Smart – Be Seen, I wait in a safe place!”
The purpose of the week is to remind everyone – parents, students, teachers, and motorists – about school bus safety rules, and especially those pertaining to outside the school bus.
Students have been struck by their school bus when they left something on the bus and tried to return, or dropped something and went after it. There are areas around the bus where it is hard for the driver to see a student (the danger zone), and there is the potential that the bus driver may not see a student and begin to move the bus. This is why students are taught to stay 12 feet away from the danger zone.
Motorists are reminded that all lanes of traffic must come to a complete stop behind the school bus when the red lights are flashing and the stop arm is out. Vehicles traveling in the opposite lanes must also stop unless there is a concrete divider.
