Rockingham authorities offer lesson in safety

By Miranda Baines

Published: August 15, 2008

Bright yellow school buses shortly will make their appearance once again on the roads of Rockingham County. With the buses on the roads, traffic safety is a top priority for local law enforcement officials.

The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, Highway Patrol and Rockingham County Schools Transportation Department did a back-to-school safety demonstration Thursday afternoon at Rockingham County Middle School. The safety demonstration was a combined effort to prepare for Aug. 25, the first day of school for Rockingham County students.

“This year, we want to make sure we start off our school year with safety in mind,” said Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. “We’ll be out enforcing on the 25th of the month. We’ll be watching school zones for anyone speeding.”

Beginning the first day of school, 147 school buses will be on the roads. When you see the lights flashing on one of those yellow school buses, you’d better stop.

“Anytime you see a school bus, you should immediately alert that there are going to be children around somewhere,” said Robert “Bob” Gauldin, director of the Rockingham County Schools Transportation Department. “Expect the unexpected.”

Passing a stopped school bus ranks in the highest category of any moving traffic violation, carrying a penalty of five points on your driving record, according to Trooper Lee Johnson of the N.C. Highway Patrol.

“You’re looking at your insurance probably doubling, fines through the court system, possibly losing your license,” said Johnson. “I think pretty much everybody understands the severity of it.”

Page asks motorists to look out for other drivers violating traffic safety regulations around school buses and in school zones, get a tag description of the violator’s vehicle and report the violation to a law enforcement agency.

Johnson advised drivers to take their time around school buses and in school zones.

“Leave early and leave plenty of time,” he said. Page also cautioned drivers not to be in a hurry when school buses are on the road, because the buses will be making frequent stops.

“They’ve got the most precious cargo, which is our children,” said Page. “We want to make sure that when they get on those buses, they get to school safely.”

Times to be on the lookout for school buses are early in the morning and mid-afternoon.

“We start picking up kids as early as 6:00 in the morning and we get the last ones in about 8:15,” said Gauldin. He said the school buses start making their afternoon rounds at 2:30 and finish as late as 5:15.

Dr. Rodney Shotwell, Rockingham County schools superintendent, wants to remind parents that no bus route stays the same from year to year. He said the first week of school typically serves as a test run to work out the bus routes.

“Be patient with us,” Shotwell requests.

Last school year, Gauldin said school buses provided transportation for more than 6,800 students. That still leaves 10,000 students that didn’t ride a school bus. With traffic such a problem at every school in the county, Gauldin encourages more students to take advantage of school bus transportation.

“It is the safest way to get to school,” said Gauldin. “We operated 1.3 million miles last year and we didn’t hurt anybody.”

“We’ve got the best drivers in North Carolina,” said Shotwell. In the next few weeks, Shotwell said all the school bus drivers will receive training in the evacuation of a school bus in the case of an emergency and the identification of emergency exits.

The North Carolina School Bus Safety Web (http://www.ncbussafety.org) provides school bus safety tips for students and parents:

· When exiting the school bus, students should respect the “danger zone,” which is the 10-foot area on all sides of the bus. After getting off the bus, stay at least 10 steps away from the bus to be in the full view of the driver.

· Parents should make sure their children leave home on time so they can arrive at the bus stop in plenty of time before the bus arrives. Running to the bus stop can be dangerous. Parents should also walk their younger children to the bus stop and make older children walk in groups.

Staff Writer Miranda Baines can be reached at or 349-4331, ext. 35.