Can you feel September yet? The back to school sales, the new shoes and backpacks

occupy every thought you have this week.

Have you thought about September driving yet? Ahh yes we must watch and obey the school zones, give way to the large groups of students taking their time crossing the street.

There are approx.. 824,000 students bused every day and 16,000 buses on the road every school day from 7 am – 9 am and 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm. On local streets (no middle divider) you must stop for any school bus that has their red flashing lights activated.

There is a good reason for that, for children’s safety.  On average 134 injuries are associated with school buses. In Ontario if you pass a bus with flashing red lights and the side arm stop sign you can be fined up to $2000 and six demerit points. There is a private member bill in Ontario that could see these fines doubled. Unfortunately, Police Officers are not able to witness all these events.  The Ontario Government is now encouraging school bus companies to install video equipment in the stop sign side arm. These videos would be admissible in courts. Like the past photo radar, only fines would be issued to the owner of the vehicle regardless who is driving.

School buses in Ontario come in many different sizes. There is the;

• Big yellow school bus (72 seats)
• Small yellow school bus (24 seats)
• Vans (15 seats)
• Mini vans (5 seats)

Not all these vehicles have the side arm stop sign. So please remember that they should be given the same courtesies given to larger buses. These vehicles are still carrying children.

A big shout out to the drivers at Wheelchair Accessible Transit, McCluskey and Dannel. Thanks for doing what you do and treating our children as precious cargo.

MTO-The law

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