Motorists warned to watch out for school buses and students

By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
As many Mon Valley students headed back to school this week, buses are also back on the roadways.
PennDOT, local school and public safety officials are urging drivers to be careful when sharing the road with school buses.
According to PennDOT, 1.5 million children are transported to school on state roads each day, which adds up to about 400 million miles over the course of an academic year.
Each year, there are incidents in which children are needlessly injured or killed by drivers, PennDOT said.
Though many students are taught in school and at home safety measures when getting on and off of their buses, for younger children just starting their educational career, transportation can be overwhelming and new.
It is important for the safety of all children – and drivers – that motorists following or coming up on a bus stop are paying close attention to their surroundings.
Monessen Police Lt. David Yuhasz said there are consequences for not doing so.
According to the Pennsylvania School Bus Stopping Law, all vehicles must stop when they meet or overtake a school bus with red signal lights flashing and stop arm extended, on an open road or at an intersection.

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