Friday, August 7, 2015

Caution: It's Back-to-School Season

By Charisse Nadal, Manager, Safety

As summer comes to end, the back-to-school season will be in full effect.  What does this mean for us? It means that traffic during the morning and afternoon hours will be much heavier. In addition, this means our postal vehicles will be sharing the roadways with school buses, child bicyclists, and child pedestrians. It is our job to be diligent and aware of our surroundings.

Most of the children that lose their lives in bus-related accidents are pedestrians, struck by a bus or a motorist attempting to pass a stopped bus. All 50 states have a law making it illegal to pass a school bus that is stopped to load or unload children. All 50 states require that traffic in both directions stop on undivided roadways when students are entering or exiting a school bus. Never pass a school bus on the right. It is illegal and could have tragic consequences.

Watch out for bikes coming out of driveways or from behind parked cars or other obstructions. Take extra precautions in school zones. When passing a bicyclist proceeding in the same direction, do so slowly and leave at least a distance between you and the bicycle of no less than three feet. If your vehicle is turning right and a bicyclist is approaching on the right, let the bicyclist go through the intersection first before making a right turn.

In most cases pedestrians have the right-of-way at all intersections. However, regardless of the rules, we as drivers are responsible to be attentive and avoid striking a pedestrian.

Drivers should not block the crosswalk when stopped at a red light or waiting to make a turn. In a school zone when a warning flasher or flashers are blinking, you must stop to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or at an intersection with no marked crosswalk.

Remember that children are unpredictable, making them more likely to take chances and ignore potential hazards.

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