School bus safety tips

Why 20 km/h?

School bus incidents happen on both high and lower speed roads. But the faster a vehicle is travelling, the more likely a child will be killed if hit. Seventy-five per cent of fatalities from school bus incidents occur on roads with a 100 km/h speed limit. At the legal limit there would be both fewer incidents and less injury.

How you can promote the limit?

The more people that know about the speed limit for passing buses that have stopped to let children on and off, the safer your children will be. There are a number of things you can do to help make your community more aware of the limit.

What you can do?

Follow these tips on the steps you can take when you're picking up or dropping off your children at the bus stop and what to teach them to be safe throughout the different stages of their journey. If you pick up or drop off your children at the bus stop:

• wait on the same side of the road as the bus stop
• park your car well away from the bus stop or other children
• teach your children about safe bus behaviour - and practice it with them
• encourage your children to wait quietly at the stop and not play games that could see them running onto the road.

If your children make their own way to or from the bus stop:

teach your child the safest route from their house to the bus stop - the route with the fewest road crossings and least traffic
if they have to cross the road after getting off the bus, teach them to wait until the bus has moved away and they can see up and down the road clearly
dress them in brightly coloured or reflectorised clothing that can be easily seen by drivers.

You can also encourage your school to establish a bus warden system.

What to teach your children

WAITING FOR THE BUS:

• Wait at the nominated bus stop area.
• Keep well away from the road edge.
• Wait quietly, avoid playing games where you might end up running onto the road.

GETTING ON THE BUS:

• Form a single line.
• Make sure the bus has stopped before you try to get on.
• Don't push! Be patient, and let those in front of you get on without any shoving or pushing.
• Carry your backpack or school bag - it may get caught in the door if you wear it.
• Let younger children on first.

RIDING ON THE BUS:

• Quickly choose your seat and sit down.
• Put your bag on your lap or under your seat - keep the bus aisle clear.
• Stay in your seat until the bus has stopped.
• Follow what the bus driver or bus warden tells you to do.
• If you have to stand, put your bag on the floor and hold onto a seat back or handrail.

GETTING OFF THE BUS:

• Get off the bus carefully. No pushing.
• After you get off the bus, wait as far away from the edge of the road as you can, until the bus has moved away.
• If you need to cross the road, wait until the bus has driven past and you can see clearly up and down the road before crossing. Always use the kerb drill to cross.
• Stand well clear of the bus if it is turning or reversing.

Encourage a school bus warden system

Bus wardens - responsible senior students - help promote safe behaviour on school buses. The wardens' tasks are to:

• help students travel to and from school safely
• help parents look after their children
• notify bus drivers of any passenger changes and prevent students from distracting them.

STARTING A BUS WARDEN SYSTEM

You can suggest that your child's school sets up a bus warden system. Together the school, bus operator, parents and the local Police Education Officer decide whether a system is needed.

Find out more on setting up a bus warden team in the School Traffic Safety Manual.

- sourced from the website: www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/students-parents/school-bus/index.html

Nearest Appropriate School

Definition of nearest appropriate school is:

• The closest school to the home of the student; or
• The closest integrated school of a special character with which the caregivers identify to the home of the student.

There are situations where the nearest school is not appropriate for the purposes of determining eligibility. Below are examples of schools that can be excluded when determining eligibility and the next nearest appropriate school will be used:

• School is a single-sex boys or girls school (of the wrong gender);
• School is a special character school with which the caregiver does not identify; or
• School is an integrated school.

Funded Catchment Area

Definition of Funded Catchment Area is:

The area enclosed by Ministry of Education designed school bus routes for which Aoraki School Transport Network receives funding.

• This area is subject to change when the Ministry's agent reviews the bus routes biannually, or when the location of students eligible to attend network schools requires the Ministry's agent to review the bus routes.
• Or The area as described above and including any area enclosed when the ASTN committee has allocated funding to enable a school bus route extension.
• Subject to ministry funding the Funded Catchment Area may extend outside the network school's Transport Entitlement Zone
• School buses will not operate on all the roads contained within the Funded Catchment Area.

Transport Entitlement Zone

Definition of Transport Entitlement Zone is:

• Generally the halfway points by public road or footpath between schools of the same type that offer the same year level education.