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(September 1, 2011) – Maryland households are in transition from summer vacations to the back-to-school daily grind. As parents help prepare children with the latest school supplies, fall clothing and study skills, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) asks you to add one more thing to your to-do list: review the rules of the road. Tragedies occur when drivers and pedestrians don’t know or follow the rules of the road. Across the nation more than 230 million children begin and end the day on a school bus, so with buses and children again on the road, reviewing the “rules of the road” can help save lives.
Together with local partners, SHA is working through the three “E’s” of safety – engineering, education and enforcement - ensuring that children stay safe this school year. SHA engineers evaluated school zones along State routes throughout the summer, making adjustments and adding traffic devices such as crosswalks, signing and hazard identification beacons where needed. Also along State routes, electronic message signs have been posted reminding motorists to look out for school buses and pedestrians.
“As a parent who personally puts his children on a school bus everyday and a highway engineer by trade, I know how important education is to transportation safety,” said Darrell B. Mobley, Acting SHA Administrator and Transportation Deputy Secretary. “Everyone needs to help spread the word that safety starts by walking and driving smart and basics such as using crosswalks, looking left right left, and when driving to go the speed limit. The most important thing you can do is to tell your children to stay on alert when walking on waiting for the school bus.”
Motorists should be aware that enforcement marks another key component of our well-rounded safety efforts, and local police departments will be in full force in designated school zones where speed limits may be reduced.
As parents and teachers, please share these tips with your children if he or she is walking to school or taking the school bus.
When riding the school bus:
- Have a safe place to wait for your bus, away from traffic and the street.
- Stay away from the bus until it comes to a complete stop and the driver signals you to enter.
When walking to school:
- Cross the street at marked crosswalks and intersections whenever possible.
- Always stop at the curb or the edge of the road and look left, then right, and then left again before crossing. Continue looking in this manner until you are able to cross safely.
- With your parents, choose the quickest and safest route with the fewest street crossings.
- Wear reflective material...it makes you more visible to street traffic.
As drivers, know your responsibility to keep kids safe.
When driving near school buses, remember:
- It is against the law to pass a stopped school bus while its lights are flashing and its stop arm is extended.
- On undivided roadways, with no physical barrier or median, vehicles must stop on both sides of the roadway.
- Yellow flashing lights indicate that the bus is preparing to load or unload children. Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop their vehicles.
- Stop for pedestrians at crosswalks – it’s Maryland State Law. Crosswalks exist at all intersections – even if they are unmarked.
- Remember pedestrians have the right of way at crosswalks; motorists must yield to them when turning. Stop for pedestrians when making a right-turn-on-red or left-turn on full green, leaving enough room at intersections so that pedestrians can cross safely.
- Vigilantly watch the roadway at all times, and always follow the speed limit, which may be lowered in designated school zones.
- Drivers need to remember the unpredictability of children and be on the look out for all pedestrians.
- And remember, make sure you and your passengers are buckled up properly. Seat belts are your number one defense in a crash.