Students at HEART Academy at Julian Newman Elementary School wait to board the school bus Friday afternoon. So far this year, there have been no transportation-related injuries in Athens or Limestone County.

In the past week alone, crashes at school bus stops nationwide have killed five children and injured several others, prompting communities across the country to take a closer look at school bus stop safety. On any given day, school buses across the state pick up, deliver and return an estimated 375,000 children.

“It’s not the school bus that is the problem,” said Rusty Bates, transportation and athletic director for Limestone County Schools. “It’s those few seconds during loading and unloading that are the most dangerous times for our children.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says “the school bus is the safest vehicle on the road.” It is considered seven times safer than traveling by car or truck.

School bus stops are a different story. Of the 119 schoolage pedestrians who have been killed in transportation-related crashes since 2003, nearly all of them were struck outside of a school bus.

Mike Bishop, transportation director of Athens City Schools, said this is a sobering statistic that should cause everyone in the Limestone County community to pause.

“Everyone plays a part in keeping our kids safe,” Bishop said. “We need to remember that these are little kids and sometimes they don’t pay attention or they are unpredictable. It is our responsibility as drivers to be the ones paying attention.”

Drivers should be vigilant at all times, Bates said, but they should be even more alert during the early morning and late afternoon hours when school bus traffic is at its busiest.

“Just slow down and be aware,” Bates said “A school bus can stop at anytime. You need to have your eyes on the road and be ready for that.”

Distracted driving is also a major problem, said Bishop, who would like to see a ban on cellphone use in school zones.

According to the website www.decidetodrive.org., the use of mobile devices and other distracted driving behaviors are directly responsible for 3,328 vehicle fatalities in the United States each year. Many claim distracted driving is more dangerous than drunk driving.

“If you are looking down at your phone, something could happen, like a child stepping out into the street before you even know it,” Bishop said. “It’s not worth the risk.”

It’s also not worth the hefty fine. A ticket for running an extended school bus stop sign, depending on the number of convictions, can range from $150 to $3,000 and result in one’s driver’s license being revoked. Bishop warned motorists that city school buses are equipped with cameras capable of capturing the license plate numbers of drivers who ignore extended school bus stop signs. School bus drivers do turn over the footage to Athens Police Department.

Danger zones

Certain areas of town pose a greater risk to school bus riders. In the county, highways 72 and 31 are particularly dangerous because they tend to be congested and have high speed limits, Bates said.

In the city, Bishop said intersections can be problematic, especially in residential areas where mature trees obscure a bus driver’s view.

School bus riders who have to cross the street to catch a school bus are also at greater risk. Bishop said school officials try to minimize situations like that as much as possible in the city, but in the county there are a number of students who have to cross the street to catch the school bus.

“Just by sheer geography, sometimes crossing the street is unavoidable (in the county),” Bates said. “In situations like these, we train students to watch for their driver to give them a signal before attempting to cross the road.

“Young children don’t know how to read traffic-flow yet,” he added. “So, it is important for them to pay attention to their driver and do what they say.”

Last year, Johnson Elementary second-grader Ashleigh Jones was struck by a vehicle on Copeland Road shortly after getting off her school bus. Students sitting in the back of the bus saw Jones getting struck by a vehicle while crossing the street to get the mail. Although she made a full recovery, Bates said her accident is a reminder to students to look both ways before crossing the road. So far this year, Bates and Bishop are happy to report there have been no transportation-related injuries this year.