Help children get to school safely

 Help children get to school safely

The CAA School Safety Patrol program was developed over 80 years ago to help children stay safe while travelling to and from school everyday. The Patrollers involved in the program volunteer their time each year to keeping the children and their community safe. Today more than 800,000 children rely on school buses.

Here's how you can help keep children safe:

Every time you see a stopped school bus with flashing red lights, you must stop, regardless of the direction you're travelling. (The only exception is on highways separated by a median. The traffic coming from the opposite direction is not required to stop.)

Don't move until the red lights stop flashing and the bus begins to move.

Remember, the penalty for not stopping for a school bus is a fine of up to $2,000 and 6 demerit points.

Let's keep children safe by reporting unsafe drivers

If you witness a driver who doesn't stop for a school bus, safely pull over and record everything you can remember about the incident:

Location, date and time

Make, model, colour and licence plate

Confirm that the bus was yellow with “school bus” written on both ends

Size of the bus (small or large)

Status of the bus (stopped or moving)

Red flashing lights (on or off)

Children boarding or exiting the bus

Driver passed from the front or from behind the bus

Immediately contact police by phone or in person and provide as much information as you can, including the names of any witnesses or photographs.