It is that time of the year. Schoolchildren are heading back to school. It is both sad and exciting for parents. The school areas will be soon busy in the morning when the school starts and in the afternoon when the students are heading back. 

Schools in the same area usually have different start and finish times so that they could share the same bus service. That means that the whole area between 8:30 and 9:30 in the morning and 3:00 to 40:00 in the afternoon will be busy with cars, school buses, and schoolchildren.

The School traffic calming zones, often with speed bumps are in place in the smaller streets, and the crossing guard is ready to direct the traffic. But there are still a lot of reasons for concern.

School zone: Reduce the speed

School Bus Safety

School buses are easy to spot on the road due to colouring and signals. Over 833,000 students use school buses in Ontario only. According to statistics students who use school buses are 72 times safer than those using a car, and 45 times safer than cycling or walking.

The school bus system is a great advantage of the Canadian school system.

The school bus drivers are carefully screened, the busses are designed and equipped to provide safe transportation to 70 students onboard. School buses are equipped with extra signals and arm with signal, that opens up once the bus stops, to prevents vehicles passing by.

• Once the bus stops and the flashing signals are on all vehicles are required to stop at least 20 meters back.
• Vehicles are not allowed to pass by or change lanes.
• Traffic can continue only after the bus signals stop flashing and the bus started moving
• School bus speed limits are 30 to 40 in school zones, 50 in the city, 80 on the highway

School areas: Students on the road!

Overall if you have to pass the school area (within the speed limits) it is important to pay attention to sidewalks and roads. A lot of kids go to and from school unattended, travel in groups, on bikes and skateboards. There is a certain degree of unpredictability and spontaneity to their movement. 

A prank, or a joke, or simple inattention can easily leave someone on the road or pedestrian crossing unexpectedly. Jaywalking, running, or attempt to retrieve objects from the road are all heightened risks in the school zones.   

Vehicles in School Zones

As far as we have seen the statistics on school buses is relatively safe compared to the students being transported in cars. The drop of and pick up times are short, and often parents are on the way to work after, which leads to more erratic car movement. 

In the school zones watch out for:

• Abruptly stopping cars
• Opening car doors
• Students coming out on the roadside of the car
• Cars double-parked and letting students out
• Students running between the cars

Unfortunately, cars are not equipped with additional signals like school busses, and overcrowded roads on the way to school do not allow parents to park or stop with all the necessary precautions. Although all the roadsigns are in place, they are rarely enforced.

On the snow days when the school buses are canceled, the roads near school experience triple the traffic, as the students who used the bus before now have to be dropped off in the parents’ vehicles. That puts everyone, even in bigger danger.

Keep the roads safe. Follow the rules in the school zones!