Tue, Dec 02 2008
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Published August 10, 2008 11:47 pm - School buses soon to start needing your attention again By Cathy Spaulding Phoenix Staff Writer School buses, carpools, parents’ cars, bicycles and walkers will hit the streets in droves this week and Monday as school starts across the Muskogee area.
That means parents, kids, educators and motorists need to start paying attention to safety. Bobby Smith, a dispatcher with the Muskogee Public Schools transportation department, said buses have all sorts of devices to make sure students and motorists stay safe. “When someone sees red lights flashing on a bus, they must stop,” he said. “That’s not a state law, it’s a federal law.” Lights flash in front of the bus, behind the bus and on a stop sign by the drivers’ window that swings out, he said. The bus also has a yellow bar that swings out in front to ensure that the bus driver and motorists see kids crossing the street. Smith said children must go around that bar to cross the street “Children are instructed that they are not to go behind the bus,” he said. Inside, Muskogee buses also have digital cameras in front and back that allow the driver to make sure riders are safely in their seats and behaving themselves, he said. “We tell the riders to sit in their seat and keep their hands and arms inside the bus,” MPS transportation director Anne Henry said. “Any kind of distraction for the bus driver is what we don’t want.” Henry said each bus has a selection of books that riders can read while on the bus. She said that will help keep children quiet. In an effort to save fuel money, Muskogee Public Schools is eliminating 65 bus stops. Henry said no rider will walk more than five blocks to a stop. She said eliminating the stops could help the district save $10,000 to $15.000 a year. “We use 400 gallons a day,” she said. Safety also is important for students riding with parents, walking or riding their bikes to school. Melody Kummers and Shirley Robinett said they take their children to school. 
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