It's August, and that means the kids are heading back to school for another school year. Unfortunately, that also means that they're at an increased risk for child injuries in New York City.
To kick off a safe school year, the National Safety Council has partnered with First Student, the largest provider of student transportation services in North America, to raise awareness about the importance of back-to-school safety and to share some important safety tips with students and parents. Millions of students will be heading back to school over the next eight weeks. This means that we'll be seeing tens of thousands of school buses on our nation's roads. Everyone should be cautious on our roadways, including motorists, bus drivers, students and parents. With the proper safety measures, we can all learn to safely share the roads with school buses, pedestrians and bicyclists. It is also a good time for parents and children to talk about how to stay safe at school.
Our New York City personal injury attorneys would like to wish everyone a safe and successful school year. We would also like to share some information regarding the risks that children are at when it's time to head back to school.
"The Council is proud to partner with First Student on this back-to-school safety initiative," said NSC President and CEO Janet Froetscher. "Research has shown distracted drivers 'look at' but fail to 'see' up to 50% of the driving environment, which can include student pedestrians and bicyclists. The back-to-school season is a good reminder to be responsible drivers as we all share the roads."
Here are some safety tips for students riding the school bus this year:
-Always stand at least three giant steps, or at least 6 feet, away from the curb.
-Stay at least five giant steps, or 6 feet, in front of the bus when crossing in front of it.
-Never walk behind a school bus.
-Make sure you can always see the bus driver and that the bus driver can see you.
-Once you get on the bus, find a seat and sit down quickly.
-Keep your head, hands and arms inside the bus at all times.
-Keep your bags and books out of the bus aisle.
-When approaching your stop, get ready by gathering your belongings.
-Before exiting the bus, remain seated and wait until it comes to a complete stop before getting off.
-Keep an eye out for passing cars when you've exited the bus.
-Stay away from the wheels of the bus at all times.
"We are so pleased to partner with the National Safety Council on this back-to-school program," said Gary Catapano, senior vice president of safety for First Student. "Millions of young people will board school buses and ride to school this fall, and it's vitally important that students, motorists and parents have the safety information needed to ensure a safe return to class."
Every school day, there are more than 22 million children riding that familiar yellow school bus back and forth to school. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on average over the last 11 years school buses have been involved in approximately 26,000 accidents that have resulted in roughly 1,000 incapacitating injuries and slightly more than 7,000 non-incapacitating injuries to passengers.
More Blog Entries:
Fatal New York Bus Accident Under Investigation, July 29, 2011
Stricter Crib Standards Prevent Child Injury in New York, July 27, 2011
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