Getting to School Safely

Parents with young children are concerned about safety when their children travel to school. Concerns involve not only the safety of the means of transportation, but also the threatening acts of strangers. Below are some tips on getting your children to school safely.

For Parents:

• Days before the school year begins walk with your children to their nearby school or bus stop, and show them how they should proceed.
• Show them a good route that they can take when they walk to school or the bus stop. Make certain that the route is not in an isolated area.
• Accompany children under 10 if they are walking or cycling to school.
• Teach children to stop, look, and listen at driveways and crossways.
• Be a role model for kids. When you walk or drive with them, remind them about the safety rules that both you and they must follow.
• Have a backup arrangement with another parent in case you are unavailable to take them to school.
• Try a dry run a few times on different days before school begins. Teach children how to cross streets by looking for traffic lights and moving cars.
• Teach your child how to call 911 in case of emergency.
• Have your children use a seatbelt or a safety seat every time you are driving them to or from school.
• Children 12 years or younger should always ride in the back seat.
• Stay focused on driving and don’t be distracted by kids in the car or other activities.

For Children:

• Don’t talk to strangers or go to their homes.
• If someone won’t leave you alone or attempts to take you away against your will, scream to get help.
• Try to travel with groups of friends as much as possible. Safety in numbers is a good principle to follow when walking to and from school.
• Carry with you the daytime phone number of your parents or caregivers if you need to get in touch with them. Also, carry the daytime phone number of a close family friend in case you cannot reach your parents.
• Be alert for all traffic signals.
• Before crossing a street, look left, then right, then left again.
• Make sure drivers see you by making eye contact with them.
• At traffic lights, cross only when the light facing you is green.
• Obey the crossing guard or safety patrol.
• Never accept a ride from a stranger.

Taking the School Bus:

• Do not play in the street while waiting for the bus.
• Line up facing the bus, not along-side it.
• After getting off the bus, move out of traffic.
• Wait for the bus driver to signal you to cross the street. Walk away from the front of the bus so the driver can see you.

On Rail or Subway

• Stay away from a subway platform.
• Don’t play on train tracks.

On Bikes:

• Wear a bicycle helmet.
• Walk your bike across all intersections.
• Ride a bicycle on the right side of the road, following the traffic flow.
• Children who are at least 10 years old should not ride bicycles on roads, but should ride on sidewalks or pathways.

For Drivers:

• Slow down in school zones. Driving just 5 MPH over the speed limit increases both the risk of hitting a child and the severity of any injuries.
• You never know if children crossing the street are paying attention, so remain stopped until the child has crossed not only your lane, but the adjacent lane as well.
• Never pass a vehicle that has stopped at a crosswalk, as they may be waiting for someone to cross.
• Do not pass a school bus when its red lights are flashing, even if it is on the other side of the street.
• Use extra care in areas where children may enter the road from between parked vehicles or other obstructions that block drivers' view of the road. And, watch out for bicycles.