CHILDREN’S SAFETY is in your hands. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation states nearly 1.5 million children are transported on Pennsylvania roads each day, and driven approximately 400 million miles to school each year. Every year, children are needlessly injured or killed by drivers passing stopped school buses.

Do you know the rules? Drivers MUST STOP when … they meet or overtake a stopped school bus with red signal lights flashing and stop arm extended … They approach an intersection where a school bus is stopped with red signal lights flashing and stop arm extended … And, drivers MUST STOP at least 10 feet away from the bus and MUST WAIT until the red lights have stopped flashing and the stop arm has been withdrawn before moving. DO NOT MOVE until all children have reached a place of safety.

You MUST STOP on roadways with or without painted lines as well as at intersections — whether marked with a stop sign or not — all traffic MUST stop. And, you MUST STOP on roadways with ridged or grooved dividers.

Drivers may proceed on highways with clearly defined dividing sections or physical barriers providing separate roadways. This only applies when the school bus is on the opposite side of the road. If in doubt, STOP!

Penalties are steep if convicted: 60-day license suspension, five points on driving record and $250 fine or, when equipped with a side stop arm and red lights are flashing, fines increase to $300.

For more information, visit www.penndot.pa.gov/safety and click on “Traffic Safety & Driver Topics” and then “School Bus Safety.”