Iowa DOT provides tips on bus safety as back-to-school season begins

DES MOINES, Iowa (WOI) - The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is providing tips on bus safety as students prepare to head back to school, WOI reports.

While bus drivers are responsible for getting students to school safely, motorists and parents also play an important role.

“Drivers are just getting used to students walking along the roadway and/or on school buses, but the students themselves, it’s new to them again, and they’re going to be interacting with a lot more traffic when they’re crossing those streets,” said Iowa DOT State Safety Planner, Larry Grant.

Grant also emphasized the importance of understanding Iowa’s traffic laws. For example, a driver traveling on a road with two or three lanes is required to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights and an extended stop arm, regardless of which direction the driver is heading. Refusing to stop for a bus is illegal. Drivers may only pass once lights are off, and the stop arm is retracted.

However, drivers traveling on roads with more than two lanes in either direction may continue driving, even if a stop arm is extended.

If a driver violates the state’s school bus safety law, also referred to as Kadyn’s Law, they may be fined between $250 and $675. Additional violations can result in more severe penalties, such as higher fines, jail time, and license suspensions.

Statistically, children are much safer riding in a school bus than a car, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Crash data collected by the Iowa DOT reveals that within the last 10 years, almost 2,000 crashes in the state have involved a school bus. 11 of those crashes were fatal, with 13 deaths overall. Grant said most of the fatalities did not involve students, but rather drivers in other vehicles, who may have rear-ended a bus or pulled out in front of one.

Before headed back to school, Grant recommends going over the following tips with students:

• Show up to the bus stop early, and wait at least 10 feet back from the curb.
• Never approach the bus until it has stopped and the driver signals it’s safe.
• Always cross in front of the bus, and make eye contact with the driver before crossing.
• Once on board, remain seated, keep arms and heads inside the bus, and always follow instructions from the bus driver.