Joint Base San Antonio-Medina Annex, Texas -- Back-to-school days may bring concerns about how your children will arrive to school on the first day and beyond. Students can either walk, ride their bicycle, ride the big yellow school bus, or be driven by a parent or guardian to school.
No matter the mode of transportation, below are a few tips to help your children arrive safely and to aid in teh safety of other children if you are on the roadways.
If your kids must walk to school, please remind them to walk on the sidewalk at all times (if possible), look both ways while crossing the street, and do not text and walk at the same time, as doing so is a distraction and could have safety implications.
If your kids decide to ride their bike to school, ensure that they wear a helmet that fits and is properly secured to their head. Also, all bike riders need to ride in the Bike Lane or at least on the right-hand side of the road. Bike riders must also follow all traffic signals that vehicles do, such as stopping at stop signs and red traffic lights. When crossing the street, bike riders must come to a complete stop and walk the bike across the street. Bike riders are also encouraged to wear reflective gear, use hand signals while turning, and be alert for car doors opening as well.
If you’re driving your kids to school, following school zone speed limits are paramount. In most neighborhoods, streets, cities, and states, the speed limit in a school zone is 20 mph. Further, it’s important to drive clear of crosswalks so that children have room to cross the street, and you are encouraged not to drop your kids off to school to where they have to walk across the street or across a roadway to get to school. Lastly, it's also important to follow the procedures the school has in place for drop-off and pick-up.
Some of the biggest mishaps that take place during the hectic back-to-school time involves school buses. If you’re behind a school bus, please give yourself a greater distance than you normally would behind a standard vehicle. This will give you more time to stop once the lights on the bus start flashing, warning you that the bus is about to stop to load or unload kids. In all 50 states, it is illegal to pass a school bus, while it's red lights are flashing and students are loading and unloading. A rule of thumb to remember is, if the lights are flashing and the stop sign arm is extended, then traffic must stop.
In all cases, when travelling on the roadways in your neighborhood, a school zone, or wherever over the next few weeks, stay alert because kids are unpredictable, may ignore hazards, and become risk takers. If everyone takes a little extra caution, drivers and pedestrians can cooperate safely to bring children back to school in the safest manner possible.