Back To School Safety Tips

(ARA) - As children head back to school, pedestrian and passenger safety become increasingly important. The start of classes means children will be riding the bus and walking to school regularly.

The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) offers the following safety tips for parents and children to ensure safe passage to and from school.

Pedestrian safety tips

* Parents should identify a safe walking route to and from school. Children should be accompanied on this route until it becomes familiar.

* Drivers may not always follow the rules of the road. Children are responsible for keeping themselves safe and should always be aware of traffic.

* Children should stay on sidewalks whenever possible, being watchful for cars backing out of driveways.

* Children should cross streets at the corner, within the crosswalk and heeding signals whenever possible. Streets should never be crossed when a siren is sounding.

* Train tracks should only be crossed where they are marked for pedestrians and never when crossing gates are down or crossing traffic lights are red.

* Children should not wear headphones when they are walking to school as music can inhibit awareness of their surroundings.

Bus safety tips

* Parents should identify a safe spot where children can wait for the bus and should accompany children to this spot until the trip becomes familiar.

* Children should stay away from the bus until it has come to a complete stop and the driver has signaled that it is safe to approach.

* Once on the bus, children should stay in their seats, refrain from making noise and be especially quiet when the bus is crossing train tracks.