RALEIGH, NC (August 2, 2018) — August is Back to School Safety Month, and North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey who also serves as the Chair for SafeKids NC, reminds students, parents, and motorists to use extra caution as students walk, drive, or ride the bus to school.
Violating the school bus law can cost you!!!
“Passing a stopped school bus can result in the motorist adding four insurance points and seeing an 80 percent increase in auto insurance premiums,” Commissioner Causey noted. “More importantly, making such an ill-advised and unsafe move could result in injury or death to one of our precious children.”
While students on traditional calendars will go back to school in late August, students at year-round schools have already started boarding buses and have headed back to class.
On a typical day, more than 14,000 school buses carrying nearly 800,000 students operate on North Carolina roads.
Commissioner Causey encouraged all motorists to watch for children walking to school or waiting by the roadside for a school bus. And he advised motorists to understand the rules of the road when a school bus is stopped picking up passengers.
“In most cases, vehicles must stop in either direction if the school bus stop sign is out, red lights are flashing, and the bus is stopped to load or unload passengers,” Commissioner Causey said. “In some cases, where a median or physical barrier divides the traffic going in different directions, or where a center turn lane separates a four-lane road, motorists traveling the opposite direction from the school bus are not required to stop.”
Commissioner Causey also offered National Safety Council tips as students and teachers head back to school.
For pedestrians:
For bike riders:
For bus riders:
For motorists, in addition to obeying the stopped school bus law:
For more information on how to keep children safe during Back to School Safety Month or throughout the year, visit the website SafeKidsNC.org.
CHARLOTTE, NC (August 20, 2024) ⇒ Free box loads of merchandise from Amazon or other…
FORT MILL, SC (August 27, 2024) ⇒ AMOREM’s Lead Dietary Specialist, Tina Avery, and Dietary…
LENOIR, NC (August 30, 2024) ⇒ On Friday, August 30, Kevin Bean was sworn in…
GRANITE FALLS, NC (August 30, 2024) ⇒ The Town of Granite Falls is honored to…
HICKORY, NC (August 30, 2024) ⇒ The City of Hickory will host the annual Kidfest…
SPRUCE PINE, NC (August 30, 2024) ⇒ Workshops are a fantastic way for festival attendees…