Remember bus safety: OPP

Members of the Sudbury and Espanola Detachments of the Ontario Provincial Police are urging drivers, children and their parents to think safety when using school buses.

Officers would also like to remind motorists of the legislation which allows vehicle owners to be charged if their vehicle illegally passes a stopped school bus with its upper red lights flashing.

The total fine if caught not stopping for a school bus is $490 and up to $2,000 and six demerit points. Each subsequent offence includes a fine of $1,000 up to $4,000, six demerit points and possible jail time up to six months.

In 2008, OPP officers across the province charged 205 drivers and 52 vehicle owners with failing to stop for a school bus. Meanwhile, Sudbury and Espanola OPP officers charged two drivers failing to stop for a school bus.

Drivers are also reminded that when following a school bus, Ontario law requires vehicles to stop 20 metres behind the bus. When meeting a school bus in oncoming traffic, vehicles must stop far enough away to allow students to cross the road well ahead of the bus bumper.

It is important to remain stopped until the school bus stop arm has been folded in again, and the overhead red lights have stopped flashing. Drivers should also remember that whether on a city street, highway or township road, and regardless of the speed limit and the number of lanes, motorists travelling in both directions must stop when approaching a stopped school bus with its upper red lights flashing.

The only exception is on highways separated by a median. Traffic coming from the opposite direction is not required to stop.

In Ontario, more than 800,000 students are transported daily in school buses that travel 1.9 million kilometres every school day. Although injuries to school bus passengers are rare, they most often happen outside the bus as students are boarding and leaving the bus or crossing the street. Children should be reminded of the following safety tips:

-Wait in a safe place, well back from the edge of the road.
-Do not play in ditches or on snow banks.
-When you leave the bus, move away from the side. If you can touch the bus, you are too close.
-If you drop something near the bus, never try to pick it up. Wait until the bus leaves and ask an
adult to help.
-When crossing the street, walk at least 10 big steps in front of the bus, along the side of the road and look at the driver for a signal before crossing.
-Walk, never run, to where your parent or caregiver is waiting for you on the side of the road where the bus stops.