By Cathy Spaulding
Phoenix Staff Writer
August 11, 2008 10:11 am
—
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.
Kummers, who has a child at Creek Elementary School and one at the Seventh and Eighth Grade Center, said her kids “know not to get in the car with anybody but me or a designated grandparent.”
She said Creek has two driveways, separated alphabetically, for parents picking up kids.
“The teachers over the years get to know the faces of the parents and the kids.”
Robinett has two children at Pershing but lives in another elementary district.
“Our school administrators are great to get kids to the proper cars,” said Robinett, who has two children at Pershing. “There are teachers right there on the sidewalk to open the car door and they have to see the parent before they let the child into the car. Ben Franklin (Science Academy) was like that, too, except for the older kids.”
She said her oldest child, a Muskogee High School freshman, will ride the bus.
Muskogee Police Department spokesman Brad Holt said parents should help their children know how to get to school safely.
He said parents should put a laminated list of important phone numbers — their home number, family members — in each child’s backpack.
Parents also should map out a route for their kids to follow if they walk or bike to school and make sure they follow that route.
Bus safety tips
• At bus stop, stay away from traffic and avoid roughousing. Do not stray onto streets, alleys or private property.
• Line up away from the street as the school bus approaches.
• Wait until the bus door opens before stepping toward the bus.
• Use hand rail while boarding or getting off.
• Find your seat and sit quietly.
• Keep head, arms, hands inside the bus.
• Keep aisles clear of musical instrument cases, bags or other things.
• Wait for the bus to stop completely before getting up.
• When getting off the bus, if you have to cross the street, walk at least 10 feet in front of the bus and make sure the driver can see you.
• Never cross behind the bus.
Walking safety
• Cross at intersection or crosswalk.
• Look both ways — left, right, then left again — to make sure the road is clear before crossing.
• Walk facing traffic.
• Stop and look carefully before stepping out from between parked vehicles.
• Always walk with a buddy.
• Follow routes your parents mapped out.
Parents
• Map out a walking/biking route for your child. Check with police for presence of sex offenders on the route.
• Make a laminated list of important phone numbers, including your own, work phone, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Put it in your child’s backpack.
• Help your child know the location of “Safe spots” including police and fire stations, Emergency Medical Services station or convenience store.
• Teach your child about different scenarios where they might be endangered, such as a person they’ve never seen asking the child to help find a lost job.
• Give your child and trusted friends and family a code word to use when the child is picked up from school. Teach the child never to go with anyone who does not know the code word.
Sources: National Safety Council, Muskogee Public Schools, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Muskogee Police Department.
Classes resume
• August 11: Oklahoma School for the Blind, Bacone College.
• August 12: Tahlequah Public Schools.
• August 13: Oktaha, Porter, Webbers Falls, Hulbert, St. Joseph Catholic School, Indian Capital Technology Center.
• August 14: Hilldale, Fort Gibson, Okay, Wagoner, Warner, Checotah, Muskogee County Head Start.
• Aug. 18: Muskogee, Connors State College.
Reach Cathy Spaulding at 918-684-2928 or Click Here to Send Email
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
Photos
Bus stop sign.