General Tips
- “Who ya gonna call?”– Teach your students their age appropriate personal information. This may be a home address and phone number, or it might be an alternative contact when a parent can not be reached. Set plans for what to do if they arrive home and a parent isn’t there.
- Map Your Route– Go over the route to school or the bus stop with your student. Take a trial run of the route and talk through spots which may be difficult to navigate for students.
- Practice the Skills– Make sure your student knows the traffic signals, proper ways to cross and gauge traffic to cross, go over any special features along the route and how to navigate them.
- Find a Buddy– Encourage walking, biking, or waiting at the bus stop with a friend. It makes it fun, social, and safe.
Bikers/Walkers
- Know Your Side– Teach and practice how to ride with traffic and walk against traffic, such as stopping and maneuvering their bike around obstacles.
- Get the Proper Fit– Go over how to put on and wear a helmet so that it is secure and can protect that bright, young student’s developing brain.
- Eyes and Ears Open– Review watching for hazards like car doors and the importance of walking or biking without headphones.
Bus Riders
- Where to Wait– Go over where the bus stop is located and where your student should safely wait, 6 feet away from the curb on the sidewalk or in the grass as the bus approaches.
- See and Get Seen– Teach your student to never walk behind the bus since the driver can’t see them.
- Get On with Care– Go over how to approach the bus to get on and to keep an eye out for cars which may try to illegally pass the bus.
Drivers
- Carpool– Help reduce the amount of vehicles and traffic around the school.
- Stop at the Line– Don’t block cross walk areas at an intersection or light, it forces pedestrians to go around you and may put them in the path of traffic.
- Pass on Passing– Stop for a bus or a vehicle stopped for pedestrians
- Know where to Go– Follow the school’s drop-off procedures and those directing traffic during drop-off.
- Don’t Double Park– It may seem fast and easy, but it blocks the visibility of pedestrians and other drivers to navigate safely.
- When in Doubt, Yield– Drop-off can be hectic, but forcing through it won’t make it safer for anyone. Slow down and yield to pedestrians and be vigilant in school zones and neighborhoods.