By JIM FARIS
School is starting once again across the region, and local law wants to remind drivers to keep kids safe, by remembering some rules around buses and school zones.
According to Missouri Law, cars on a 2-lane road must stop for a bus with red flashing lights and stop stick extended.
On a 4-lane road with a median or barrier, traffic behind the bus must stop, but traffic on the other side can continue moving.
Yellow lights on a bus mean that the bus is about to stop, and drivers behind and beside the bus should likewise be ready to stop.
Drivers should only start driving again when lights stop flashing, stop sticks are withdrawn, and the bus itself begins moving.
Sergeant Shane Hux with Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop H gives a good rule of thumb for distancing your vehicle from a school bus.
"As with following any vehicle, you should be able to see the rearview mirrors that are extended on side of the vehicle, as far as a safe distance goes, from behind. You don't want to be right up on his bumper, you want to be far enough back to see the mirrors on the side of the bus. And it's always a good idea, if you can, to look in those mirrors and try to get eye contact with the driver of that school bus... Now in some locations, especially in a rural area, sometimes the bus driver is waiting on a student to come out of a house or something, so they may extend their arm out the driver's side window, and wave traffic around those."
Sergeant Hux adds that it's also important to teach kids to walk 10 feet in front of the bus when getting on and off, so that the driver can plainly see them.
Hux says school is the highest concentration of young drivers for our region, and that often leads to accidents.
"This time of year, with school starting, we're going to have younger drivers out there first thing in the morning. We're going to have them out there, three to four in the evening. Matter of fact, that is the prime time for young people to be involved in motor vehicle crashes, is between three and four, when school is dismissing. So we just ask everybody to pay attention, be aware, expect delays, things are going to be changing here in the next couple of weeks, and pay attention. That's the most important thing."
Related to safety in schools, the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office has a School Resource Officer for each school in the county- offering students someone to come to in serious situations.
Buchanan County Chief Deputy Mike Donaldson adds that parents should get to know their school's resource officer if they can.
"We have School Resource Officers in every school, so there's always someone they can talk to, and I would encourage them to reach out and get to know them, especially at the beginning of the year. Just to say "Hi", so they know who the resource officer is. And then, as anything comes up, if their children are having any trouble, if there's any crimes or threats, or anything like that, they need to feel comfortable in reaching out to the School Resource Officer. And also the school administrators."
The first day of school for our area schools are August 24th for DeKalb and Faucett, the 25th for Saint Joseph Schools, and the 26th for Savannah.