Back to school road safety tips

August 27, 2014 · 0 Comments

The youth in our community are returning to school next week. This means school buses sharing our roads during heavy traffic hours, more children walking or cycling along roads and crossing roads, and school zones packed with parents doing pick-ups and drop offs.
The safety of these children is everyone’s responsibility!
According to a study by Safe Kids Canada, more children acquire pedestrian-related injuries in the months of September and October than any other time of year.
Here are some back-to-school safety tips:
• Talk with your children: Talk about the rules of the road, make sure your child knows the safest route to their school and teach them to obey crossing guards.
• Put away the phone: This is for both drivers and pedestrians. Driving distracted through texting or talking on a hand held device has been proven to very dangerous. But walking distracted, especially for children, takes the focus away from potential hazards and dangers.
• Leave early: Always leave plenty of time for you and your family to get to school. Running late can cause aggressive behaviors.
• Scan the road: Scan ahead, scan the sidewalks, look through windows of parked cars, and look for feet under parked cars.
• Obey School Buses: Motorists travelling in both directions must stop for a school bus
• Be Patient: Drivers need to wait for children to complete their crossing before proceeding. Children can be unpredictable and change their minds.
• Slow Down: Especially in school zones slow down and pay full attention to safe driving
• Drop children off in a safe area: If you are driving children to school, drop them off in a safe area away from traffic.
The Shelburne Police Service wishes all our youth a safe and happy return to school next week!