With school back in full swing, students will be using the bus more often - and that's why it's important that drivers on the road are paying attention to school buses and the kids inside. The week of October 16th through 20th is National School Bus Safety Week; a good time for drivers to keep in mind what they need to do to keep kids safe as they're getting on and off the bus.
"Any time the bus is stopped on a two lane road and the bus arm comes out, even if it's in the process, anytime those red lights it's time to stop," said Nate Garlock, Director of Safety and Security for Lima City Schools. "Luckily we have a new feature on our bus now so we're hoping to cut down on that a little bit - we have cameras and once that arm extends and the lights are on, those cameras will take pictures of the vehicles as they drive through, and it will make it a little bit easier for us to identify the people that have gone through - it's not that we want people to get tickets, we want to be doing what we can to keep the kids safe."
State Troopers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol have been watching over the students by following buses, and the troopers say it's just a way to prevent a disaster.
"During this week particularly we are trying to be out enforcing and being proactive, showing the motoring public that we do care," said Sgt. Matt Dyer with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. "It's really tragic when you have a child that's in a crash, especially if it's a fatal crash, so we're trying to make sure that they arrive or get home safely from school."
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, from 2014 to 2016, nearly 4,200Â drivers were convicted from failing to stop for a stopped school bus and almost 4,000 accidents were reported involving a school bus.
