As students prepare to return to school, take a moment to review these tips and reminders to help ensure a safe school year.
- Slow down in school zones.
- Watch for children crossing streets and for directions from crossing guards.
- Put your phone away.
- Be extra vigilant on streets adjacent to schools, especially at the beginning and end of school days.
- Watch for children darting out from between parked cars.
- Put your phone away - state law bans the non-hands-free use of cell phones and texting while driving.
- Drop off and pick up in designated areas.
- Stop for buses loading or unloading students.
- Watch for warning signs and signals.
For more school safety tips, visit nhtsa.gov and nsc.org.
Download a Back to School Safety Checklist Here
Stopping For a School Bus & Other Tips
If you are driving, remember these simple rules:
- Yellow flashing lights on a school bus mean slow down — don’t speed up — because the bus is preparing to stop. There are likely students waiting to get on the bus or parents waiting nearby to pick up children.
- Red flashing lights mean stop — and wait at least 20 feet behind the bus — because children are getting on or off the school bus. Stay stopped until the red lights stop flashing, the extended stop-arm is withdrawn, and the bus begins moving.
- Even when lights aren’t flashing, watch for children, particularly in the morning or mid-afternoon, around school arrival and dismissal times. Be alert as you back out of a driveway, or drive through a neighborhood, school zone or bus stop.
Also, be advised that the speed limit in school zones is 20 MPH, (which includes Main Street).
Safety Tips for Students
- Always cross streets at corners where there are traffic signals and designated crosswalks.
- Make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them.
- Always walk on the sidewalk.
- Walk facing traffic if there are no sidewalks.
- Always look left, right, and left again before crossing the street.
- Never run out into the street or cross between parked cars.
- Bike riders, wear your helmet and walk your bike across crosswalks.