Watch For Children Getting On And Off School Buses: Officials

MARYLAND — Ahead of the 2021-22 school year, Maryland State Police and the Maryland Center for School Safety are reminding drivers to be alert for children as they get on and off school buses.

Most school districts in the state start classes either Aug. 30 or Sept. 7, the day after the Labor Day holiday.

In a typical school year, more than 600,000 Maryland students ride school buses throughout the state, the Maryland State Police said in a news release, and many of those students will be riding the bus for the first time in more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Drivers should look out for school buses and should not ignore the red flashing lights when a bus is stopped. Anyone the police catch breaking the law could face a $570 fine and a three-point penalty on their driver's license.

To ensure school bus safety, the Maryland Center for School Safety encourages Marylanders to:

• Always pay attention when driving, especially in school zones and during school bus stops.
• Always stop when a bus stops (it is illegal to pass a school bus with its red lights flashing and stop-arm extended when it has stopped to load or unload students).
• Ensure that any mask or face shield that you wear out in public does not prevent you from maintaining a clear line of sight when operating a motor vehicle or walking near moving vehicles.
• Remember that children’s brains are still developing – don’t expect them to behave as you would when entering, exiting, or in a school bus.

Between 2009 and 2018, 1,207 people were killed in school transportation-related crashes nationally, including 208 pedestrians, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Among those deaths are 249 school-age children, according to the NHTSA. Of those, 52 were riding in school transportation vehicles, 92 were occupants of other vehicles, 100 were pedestrians, four were pedalcyclists and one was another non-occupant.

More school-age pedestrians were killed from 6 to 8 a.m. and from 3 to 4 p.m. than any other hour of the day, the NHTSA reported.