Safety Key To Successful School Year – Remember to Drive Safely!

Each day this week school systems across West Alabama are beginning their new 2025-26 school year. With the school bell comes a need for motorists to be more careful as they approach a school zone or school bus stopped with red lights flashing.

"Back-to-school season is an exciting time, but it's also a time when safety must be a top priority and a shared responsibility," Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Hal Taylor said in a statewide press release. "Whether you're a parent dropping off your child, a teen driving to school for the first time, or a commuter passing through a school zone, your actions matter. A few extra moments of caution can save lives and that's a commitment we all need to make this school year."

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The majority of school-related accidents involve school buses in Alabama. ALEA Lieutenant Jeremy Burkett says you simply cannot treat buses the same as every other vehicle. He says you need to give school buses more space because they take longer to slow down and make frequent stops.

In recent years, school bus drivers have been reporting an increase in the number of drivers who do not stop for the flashing lights and deployed “STOP” sign on the side of the big yellow bus.

Alabama law is specific when it comes to school bus safety. The law forbids drivers from passing a stopped school - or church - bus when the alternately flashing red lights are activated and the stop sign is deployed. Drivers must remain stopped until the flashing lights are turned off and the bus is in motion.

The requirement to stop for a school bus not only applies to a two-lane road but also to four and six-lane roadways that are undivided.

The ALEA release urges drivers to slow down, stay alert, and avoid distractions as they approach school zones, especially when school buses are present during morning and afternoon school hours.

In Alabama, drivers are legally required to adhere to lower speed limits during designated school hours. These are typically 15mph in Alabama. Failing to do so can result in serious consequences, including fines and legal penalties.

It is also illegal to pass another vehicle in a school zone when children are present or when school buses are loading or unloading passengers.

Drivers must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, including students and crossing guards, who are in crosswalks or at intersections within school zones. You are required by law to obey signals and instructions given by crossing guards.

But school zone and school bus safety is not just the responsibility of the driver. Parents should educate their children about safety. Young students especially should be reminded to use crosswalks, look both ways before crossing, not to stand up on a school bus, not to disturb the school bus driver, and not to dart out in the road when exiting the bus.

Most accidents in school zones and at school bus stops are preventable, according to ALEA. They point to driver distraction as the number one cause of accidents, followed by excessive speed.

ALEA and police departments will have units patrolling school zones and paying attention to school bus stops to make sure the new school year starts safely.