"Stay Back, Stay Back, From the Yellow and Black" is this year's National School Bus Safety Week theme. But bus safety isn't a one-week topic. It's a year-round subject that connects to many curriculum areas.
More than 22 million U.S. students ride school buses daily, according
to officials of the National Safe Kids Campaign. Each year, approximately
390,000 public school buses travel about 4.2 billion miles!
Although school buses are one of the safest ways to travel to and from
school, injuries do occur. In 1994, 32 children aged 14 and under were
killed in bus-related incidents. Twenty-five of the children killed were
pedestrians. (Most of those children were struck by their own school buses.)
In addition, many more children -- more than 7,000, in fact - are injured
while in a school bus or while getting on or off school buses. Many injuries
happen when children are boarding or exiting because a blind spot extends
approximately 10 feet in front of the bus, obstructing the view of the
driver. Children are not aware of this blind spot and might mistakenly
believe that if they can see the bus, the bus can "see" them.
School bus safety is serious business -- because one bus-related death
is too many. Qualified and well-trained drivers are the main defense against
school bus fatalities. That, and children who know the rules -- and obey
them.
School bus rules should be introduced to children early in the school
year -- not just during "National
School Bus Safety Week (October 20-26, 2002). And the bus safety rules
should be reviewed often.
Following are a few activities that you might use this month with your
students to build awareness of the rules and responsibilities of safe
bus riding.
Bus safety rules. Invite students to visit a couple Web sites
to compile a list of bus safety rules. Among the sites students might
visit are:
- Safety
Rules Safety rules from Robin Padgett, aka "Busmom," who for 14
years has been driving a school bus for Lynchburg (Virginia) Schools.
- Bus
Safety Tips Laidlaw Transit's top ten ways to make school bus trips
safe and fun.
Invite each student to select a rule and to make poster to promote that
safety rule. Display the posters in the school hallway or busroom.
National School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest. The theme of
the 2002 National School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest is "Stay Back,
Stay Back, From the Yellow and Black." Click here
for information about the contest. All entries in this year's contest
must follow contest guidelines and be received by October 18, 2002. Prizes
are awarded in four divisions -- grades K-3; grades 4-6, grades 7-8, and
special needs.
Spelling. (You might use this activity as a cooperative group
activity.) The theme of this year's National School Bus Safety Week is
"Stay Back, Stay Back, From the Yellow and Black." Write that theme
on the board and invite students to use the letters in that theme to spell
as many words as they can. Words must be three letters or more. Any letter
that doesn't appear more than once in the theme can't be used more than
once in the word lists (e.g., the word cellar can be spelled, but
the word food cannot be used because there is only one o
in the theme expression).
Science. Read aloud one of the books from the The Magic
School Bus series. Or view one of the series' videos. (See the
story about The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip, the
latest book in the series, on this week's Books
in Education page.)
Geography. On a map of your community, trace the route that the
bus takes to school.
Read the table. Invite students to study the chart below. Then
ask five to ten questions and see if your students can correctly answer
them by using that information. Sample questions:
- About how many motor vehicle accidents in 1995 involved buses? (50,000)
- Which type of vehicle was involved in more fatal accidents - motorcycles
or farm tractors? (motorcycles)
- Which type of vehicle was involved in 21 percent of all accidents?
(light trucks)
- Which type of vehicle was involved in 9,000 accidents? (farm tractors)
- Which type of motor vehicle was involved in more fatal accidents of
all kinds - light trucks or medium/heavy trucks? (light trucks)
| Types of Accidents (1995) |
| Type of Vehicle |
Number of Accidents |
| Passenger cars |
12 million |
| Light trucks |
4 million |
| Medium/heavy trucks |
800 thousand |
| Farm tractors/equipment |
9 thousand |
| Buses, commercial |
49 thousand |
| Buses, school |
50 thousand |
| Motorcycles |
150 thousand |
| Motor scooters, motorbikes |
2 thousand |
Your local office of the American Automobile Association might have
for you copies of brochures or activity books on a variety of timely safety
topics including school bus safety, bicycle safety, and pedestrian safety.
Most brochures are available free of charge. Contact the AAA office in
your area.
Check out the school bus safety products available from the National
PTA.
Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World® Editor-in-Chief
Copyright © 2002, 2005Education World
Originally Published 09/08/1997; Last Updated 07/15/2005
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