DOTHAN, Ala. (WDNews) — With students across the Wiregrass heading back to school, drivers are being reminded to slow down, stay alert and watch for children near schools, neighborhoods and bus stops.
Mornings and afternoons mean more school buses on local roads and more children walking or waiting near traffic. A few extra seconds of attention behind the wheel can help keep a child safe.
Drivers should slow down in school zones and neighborhoods and avoid distractions while driving. Be prepared for children who may enter or cross a roadway unexpectedly, especially around bus stops.
School bus safety is also important. Under Alabama law, drivers must stop when approaching a school bus displaying flashing red lights and an extended stop arm in most situations.
On two-lane roads, traffic traveling in both directions must stop. The same applies to roads with multiple lanes when there is no physical median separating traffic, including roads with a center turn lane.
On a divided highway with four or more lanes and a physical median, traffic traveling in the opposite direction from the stopped school bus is not required to stop. Drivers traveling behind the bus must still stop.
Drivers should remain stopped until the bus turns off its flashing red lights, retracts its stop arm and children are safely out of the roadway.
Parents can also remind children to wait for the bus in a safe location away from traffic, look carefully before crossing a street and never assume a driver sees them.
As another school year begins across the Wiregrass, everyone on the road has a part to play. Slow down, put away distractions and give school buses and children plenty of room.
Our children are counting on all of us to help get them to school — and back home — safely.
