LIMA — With school starting this month, many students throughout Ohio will be riding a bus to and from school and to and from extracurricular events. The safety of those students is a top priority, officials said Wednesday.
Since 2017, there have been 6,200 traffic crashes involving school buses in Ohio. During this time, 1,943 were injured and six were killed. None of those killed were on a school bus. Since 2017, there have been 45 bus-related crashes in Allen County, 24 in Auglaize County and 15 in Mercer County. Putnam County had the lowest number of bus-related crashes with only seven.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol reminded motorists the driver of any vehicle approaching a school bus in any direction must stop at least 10 feet from the front or rear of the school bus. They cannot proceed until the school bus resumes motion or the school bus driver motions for the automobile driver to proceed.
All school buses are equipped with amber and red visual signals meeting state requirements. These can be activated by the bus driver only when the bus is stopped or stopping on the roadway for the purpose of loading/unloading school children, people attending mental health or developmental disabilities programs or children attending programs by Head Start agencies.
When a highway has four or more lanes, a driver of a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction of the school bus does not need to stop. However, drivers of vehicles driving in the same direction as the school bus must stop.
Regarding divided highways or highways with four or more lanes, school bus drivers are required to unload/load passengers on the residence’s side of the highway.
The school bus driver is required to wait on the side of the road for the passengersto reach a safe destination before driving away.
School bus laws in Ohio are serious. Any driver who fails to follow the laws can be fined up to $500 and receive a one-year license suspension.
School buses are also required to be inspected twice a year to ensure the bus is operating properly. Every bus used to transport students is inspected before the beginning of the school year and once randomly during the year. Since 2017, the patrol has performed more than 185,000 inspections.
Reach Dean Brown at 567-242-0409
