Most Indiana schools are back in session, which means that drivers and parents need to be extra careful to make sure children are not injured riding, entering or exiting school buses. Advocates for school bus safety encourage parents to plan ahead.
What can be done to keep children safe?
Steps parents can take
Advocates encourage parents who live in high traffic areas to notify their district that their children are at risk due to crossing busy roads to get on the school bus. Parents seeking changes to make their kids safer can cite the MAXSTRONG law. Parents can also question schools about whether safety provisions are being utilized on school buses.
What the MAXSTRONG law does
The Indiana legislature passed the MAXSTRONG law in response to the 2018 deaths of two children who were attempting to board a school bus. It makes it illegal for school bus services to require children to cross Indiana highways to get on or off a bus. The law also allows Indiana schools to place stop-arm cameras that capture the license plate numbers of drivers making illegal passes on their buses.
What the rules of the road are
Whenever a bus stops on a two-lane road or multi-lane road with no median, traffic must stop in both directions. When a bus stops on a highway with a divider, vehicles following the bus must stop and vehicles traveling on the other side of the highway must drive cautiously.
Adults working together with school boards can make the roads a safer place for children who ride school buses.