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As summer comes to an end and kids return to school, family life can become quite busy. It’s crucial to remember and communicate with your children some essential tips that will help ensure their safety and well-being throughout the school year.

Transportation Safety Tips

Whether children walk, ride their bicycle or take the bus to school, it is extremely important that they take proper safety precautions. Here are some tips to make sure your child safely travels to school:

Walkers

  • Review your family’s walking safety rules and practice walking to school with your child.

  • Walk on the sidewalk, if one is available; when on a street with no sidewalk, walk facing traffic

  • Before you cross the street, stop and look left, right and left again to see if cars are coming

  • Make eye contact with drivers before crossing, and always cross streets at crosswalks or intersections

  • Stay alert and avoid distracted walking

Bike Riders

  • Teach your child the rules of the road and practice riding the bike route to school with your child.

  • Ride on the right side of the road, with traffic, and in a single file

  • Come to a complete stop before crossing the street; walk bikes across the street

  • Stay alert and avoid distracted riding

  • Make sure your child always wears a properly fitted helmet and bright clothing

Bus Riders

  • At the Bus Stop:

    • Arrive early at the bus stop – at least five minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive

    • Stand 6 feet (or three giant steps) away from the curb while waiting for the bus

    • Supervise young children

  • Around the Bus

    • Cross in front of the bus – at least 10 feet (or five giant steps) – and make eye contact with the driver before crossing

    • Never walk behind the bus

    • If you drop something near the bus, do not pick it up; tell the bus driver instead

  • Getting On/Off the Bus

    • Wait until the bus has stopped and the door opens before approaching the bus or standing up on the bus

    • Use the handrail

    • Secure any loose or hanging objects like straps on a backpack or drawstrings on a hood

  • Behavior on the Bus:

    • Buckle up if seat belts are available

    • Stay in your seat keeping head, arms and papers inside the bus, and talk quietly

    • Keep aisles clear of books and bags

Driving Your Child to School

  • Stay alert and avoid distracted driving.

  • Obey school zone speed limits and follow your school’s drop-off procedure

  • Make eye contact with children who are crossing the street

  • Never pass a bus loading or unloading children

  • The area 10 feet around a school bus is the most dangerous for children; stop far enough back to allow them to safely enter and exit the bus

Teen Drivers

  • Teens crash because they are inexperienced; practice with new drivers every week, before and after they get their license

  • Set a good example; drive the way you want your teen to drive

  • Sign the New Driver Deal, an agreement that helps define expectations for parents and teens

Source: Back to School Safety Checklist – National Safety Council

Every year, too many lives are cut short by something entirely preventable: red-light running crashes. As we mark National Stop on Red Week 2025, we invite you to pause — and power up your voice. Stop On Red Week is observed across the country every year during the first full week of August — August 3 to 9 this year — to highlight the significance of red traffic lights and to curb the deaths caused by breaking the red light rule. While following basic traffic rules might seem easy, statistics say at least 50 million people are injured or disabled by road traffic crashes yearly. Red-light running is one of the most dangerous and preventable traffic violations. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

  • More than 1,000 people are killed annually in crashes involving red-light runners.

  • Over 100,000 are injured.

  • In nearly half of those fatal crashes, it’s not the violator who dies — it’s a pedestrian, cyclist, or another driver.

These are not just statistics — they’re names. They’re stories. They are fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, and friends. They are loved, and they matter.

This week is more than a campaign. It’s a movement of Safe Stops. Stronger Communities. Stop on Red Week 2025 is about more than just traffic signals. It’s about lives. Families. Futures. It’s about reminding drivers across the country that every red light is a line drawn to protect us. When we ignore it, we gamble with human life.

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