Tyrone Area and Bellwood-Antis students will hit the halls of their respective schools for the first time tomorrow.
\nBut, before the bell rings, motorists are being reminded to be alert for school buses and for children walking or biking to school.
\nPennDOT\u2019s Secretary Allen Biehler, P.E., said \u201cresponsible drivers need to watch for students who are boarding or getting off school buses, and they should watch for crossing guards who are working to make sure children are safe as they cross streets.\u201d
\nA PennDOT press release said motorists in both directions must stop when a school bus has its red lights flashing and a stop arm extended. Violators of the state\u2019s school bus stopping law face a 60-day license suspension, five points on their driving record and a $250 fine.
\nThe Pennsylvania state police in Huntingdon County also issued a reminder earlier this month about stopping laws regarding buses. The information explained how drivers should deal with a stopped school bus.
\nA driver meeting or overtaking a school bus stopped on a highway or road shall stop at least 10 feet before reaching the school bus when the red signal lights on the bus are flashing and the side stop signal arms are activated. The driver shall not proceed until the flashing red signal lights are no longer activated.
\nThe state police said, \u201cin no event shall a driver of a vehicle resume motion of the vehicle until the school children (exiting) from the school bus have reached a place of safety.\u201d
\nThe information from the state police goes on to state that a driver of a vehicle approaching an intersection at which a school bus is stopped \u201cshall stop his vehicle at the intersection\u201d until the flashing red signal lights are no longer activated.
\nThe information also explained how a driver should deal with a bus flashing amber lights by noting a \u201cdriver of a vehicle meeting or overtaking any school bus shall proceed past the school bus with caution and shall be prepared to stop when the amber signal lights are flashing\u201d.
\nPennDOT also is cautioning motorists to look for children who may dart into the street without looking and for children playing around bus stops. Drivers should also be extra alert when backing out of a driveway or garage.
\nPennDOT noted that there were 491 school bus crashes that caused 578 injuries in the state last year. Along with school bus safety, motorists also need to obey school zone speed limits, which are posted 15 miles per hour.
\nPennDOT also offered a list of bus safety tips for kids:
\n\u2022 stay out of the street while waiting for the bus;
\n\u2022 do not shout, yell, or sing while on the bus; it can distract the driver;
\n\u2022 wait until the bus comes to a complete stop before exiting;
\n\u2022 wear bright clothing and allow extra time to walk to the bus stop;
\n\u2022 walk 10 giant steps in front of the bus so the driver can see you;
\n\u2022 never retrieve anything that falls under the bus;
\n\u2022 remain seated at all times while the bus is moving;
\n\u2022 keep aisles clear and stow school bags under the seat and
\n\u2022 wait for the driver\u2019s signal before crossing in front of the bus. Be sure to look first to the left, then to the right and then to the left again to see that all cars have stopped.
\nFor more information about the state\u2019s school bus stopping law visit PennDOT\u2019s web site at www.dot.state.pa.us and click on the school bus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tyrone Area and Bellwood-Antis students will hit the halls of their respective schools for the first time tomorrow. But, before the bell rings, motorists are being reminded to be alert for school buses and for children walking or biking to school. PennDOT\u2019s Secretary Allen Biehler, P.E., said \u201cresponsible drivers need to watch for students who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}