The bus is a very safe way for your child to travel to and from school.  In fact, school buses are the safest vehicles on the road!  Very few deaths and injuries involve a school bus.

Most mishaps take place outside the bus, so here are some precautions you can take.

• Don't let your children arrive at the stop too early.  They may be tempted to wander or get into mischief.
• Make sure they know what to do if they miss the bus: come back home; or at school, report to a teacher -- and never, never accept a ride from a stranger.
• If the stop is a long way from home, plan and discuss with your children where they can go in an emergency.
• If it is dark on the way to or from the bus, make your children visible.  Use retro-reflective tape on their clothing and avoid dark colors.
• Make sure they wait well away from the roadway, and stay well back until the bus has come to a full stop and the door opens
• Explain they must walk at least three metres (10 feet) away when crossing in front of a bus so the driver can see them.
• Forbid running and horseplay
• Tell your children to come straight home from the bus - no detours.

• Do make sure the driver can always see you
• Do stay back from the road
• Do wait quietly in line
• Do stay back until the bus stops, its lights start flashing, the door opens
• Do enter the bus single file
    
• Don't push or shove
• Don't run into the street
• Don't throw things
• Don't stop to pick up anything that drops while you are crossing in front of the bus
• Don't yell and shout
• Don't bring your pet on the bus