Safety Services Nova Scotia has developed School Bus Safety Information cards. You may order quantities of these cards at no charge, to distribute at checkpoints. The cards detail the penalty for passing a school bus illegally. Contact Arminta Kennedy at 902-454-9621, x222 or kennedy@safetyservicesns.ca
School Bus Safety Issues and Information
The following is some background information for your interest, which may be useful to you when you are engaging in school bus safety initiatives.
- No child has ever been fatally injured in Nova Scotia while riding on a school bus, since buses began operating in this province in the 1950s.
- Two deaths and some injuries have occurred while children have been walking to or from the school bus.
- A serious issue is that of vehicles passing school buses that are stopped to load or unload students. This is illegal. See Section 103(3), Motor Vehicle Act.
- In a June 2006 survey, 401 incidents of illegal passing were documented by 75% of the province’s school bus drivers in a 10 day period.
- Bus drivers participating in this survey could seldom obtain the license plate number on offending vehicles. They were, however, able to get driver and vehicle descriptions fairly often. (There is only one license plate on vehicles on the back which is difficult to see).
- The survey indicated that vehicles were more likely to illegally pass a school bus when they were coming toward it in the opposing lane, than when they were following the bus in the same lane.
- A school bus exhibiting its alternating amber lights means only that the bus is about to stop. A school bus is exhibiting its alternating red lights means only that the bus is stopped for the purpose of loading or unloading students.
- When a school bus is stopped with its alternating red lights flashing, a “stop arm” (stop sign) protrudes from the side of the bus. This provides an additional warning to motorists to stop.
- When the school bus is stopped with its alternating red lights flashing, a “crossing gate” protrudes from the front of the bus. This device encourages children to cross the road well in front of the school bus, where, despite their small size, the bus driver can see them, and they can see the bus driver. This enables children to look for the bus driver’s signal that it is okay to cross the street.
- School buses are markedly different in design than the family car. There are about 40 federal standards governing the design of school buses, covering things like the fuel tank (fire prevention), seat anchorage, rollover protection, etc.
- Rather than seat belts, the current system of passenger restraint used is Compartmentalization. Simply put, this consists of high-back, energy absorbing vehicle seats placed close together to form a “compartment”. Other methods of restraint (including seat belts) have been tested, but compartmentalization has been found to be effective and workable.
- Transport Canada has done testing with regard to the transportation of pre school aged children in school buses. Some jurisdictions in Canada transport pre school aged children via school bus. For these children, due to their body weight and structure, it is believed that travel within a child car seat may be a safer option, when riding in a school bus. Newly constructed school buses in Nova Scotia now have up to 8 built in child car seats for children up to 40 pounds.