Ahead of the commencement of the 2025-26 academic year, AAA provides guidelines for ensuring traffic safety during the student rush hours.
As the 2025-26 school year begins, students are returning to campuses and classrooms across the country. This busy period brings a heightened focus on school bus, pedestrian, and bicycle safety. A collaborative effort from drivers, students, parents, pedestrians, and cyclists is crucial in reducing accidents and creating a safer environment.
School Bus Safety
When a school bus shows flashing red lights and extends its stop sign, drivers must stop and wait until the bus moves again before proceeding. Flashing yellow lights mean slow down and prepare to stop, maintaining a safe distance of at least 10 to 20 feet from the bus is critical. Students should wait for the bus to come to a complete stop before boarding or exiting, and when crossing the street, walk at least 10 feet in front of the bus, make eye contact with the driver, and cross carefully. Parents should teach children safe boarding and exiting behavior and ensure they use designated bus stops in safe, visible areas. Dressing children in bright or reflective clothing improves visibility.
Pedestrian Safety
Always use sidewalks or walk facing traffic if no sidewalk exists. Before crossing, stop and look left, right, and left again. Never dart out unexpectedly or walk while distracted by phones or headphones. Motorists should never block crosswalks, yield to pedestrians, and avoid passing stopped vehicles in school zones.
Bicycle Safety
Always wear a properly fitted helmet and wear bright or reflective clothing. Ride single file on the right side of the road, obey traffic signals and rules, and use hand signals before turns. Stop completely before crossing streets and walk the bike across crosswalks. Stay alert for hazards such as opening car doors and avoid distractions.
These combined efforts help reduce accidents and create a safer environment during the busy back-to-school period. Everyone, regardless of mode of transportation, should remain vigilant, put down the phone, look up, and pay attention to help students get to and from school safely. Children riding bicycles should ride focused and alert, never using earbuds or electronics.
It's important to note that not stopping for a school bus with flashers on and the stop arm extended can result in fines of up to $200 and up to 60 days in jail for the first offense in Kentucky. Children walking to school bus stops are at risk, not just those walking the entire route.
Lori Weaver Hawkins, public affairs manager for AAA Blue Grass, stated that this time of year is particularly dangerous due to young, inexperienced drivers, school buses, commuters, parents doing drop-offs, and pedestrians and bicyclists sharing the road. All 50 states have a law that makes it illegal to pass a school bus with its red flashing lights on and its stop-arm extended. Children riding bicycles to school should have the necessary skills, such as riding in a straight line and signaling to vehicles when turning.
In Kentucky, it is required by law for motorists to stop when a school bus is stopped along a roadway, with the stop arm and signal lights activated. Drivers should not proceed again until the bus is back in motion. Children should cross only at corners, never mid-block or between parked cars. More school-age pedestrians are killed from 7 to 8 a.m. and from 3 to 4 p.m. than any other hours of the day. Students should confirm traffic has stopped and cross only when it is safe to do so without hesitation.
Motorists are advised to be mindful of changes in traffic in and around school zones. Students should walk on a sidewalk if provided, and if not, walk facing traffic on the left side of the road and as far to the left as possible. Children riding bicycles should understand traffic safety rules, such as riding in the same direction as traffic and stopping at all stop signs and signals.
Stay safe this back-to-school season by following these simple yet essential safety tips. Together, we can make our roads safer for everyone.
- To ensure the safety of school children, it's important to remember that when a school bus shows flashing red lights and extends its stop sign in Kentucky, drivers must stop and wait until the bus moves again before proceeding.
- In a bid to foster personal growth and learning, parents should teach their children safe boarding and exiting behavior for school buses and make sure they use designated bus stops in safe, visible areas, preferably wearing bright or reflective clothing.
- In order to prioritize education-and-self-development, pedestrians should always use sidewalks, walk facing traffic if no sidewalk exists, and cross streets carefully, making eye contact with drivers and waiting for a complete stop from oncoming traffic.
- Encourage the industry of transportation to maintain a safer environment by following traffic regulations when riding bicycles, such as wearing a properly fitted helmet, riding single file on the right side of the road, and obeying traffic signals and rules before crossing streets.
