West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles is reaching out to share tips on driving safely as students enter and exit school buses.
From 2021 to 2025 in West Virginia, 325 drivers were stopped for failing to yield to a stopped school bus, according to data gathered by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. Of those, 33 were given warnings, and 292 were issued citations.
“Yellow means caution, red means stop,” said Everett Frazier, commissioner of WV DMV. “Check your surroundings. Nothing is more precious than a child and it would be a life long struggle to deal with if a child was injured, or even worse.”
Tips and best practices for driving safely around school buses include:
•Travel early. Allow extra time for one’s morning and afternoon commutes. If a person left home late, one will arrive late, but the drive time is its own time.
•Keep one’s eyes on the road and eliminate distractions. From phones to breakfast sandwiches, distractions can be deadly.
•Know the start and end times of the school day, and common routes in a person’s area but remain prepared for buses at all times, on all roads. Early dismissal, spring break, field trips, road work, and other factors can change where buses can be seen.
•Adopt the mindset – each student is irreplaceable. If all drivers work together, everyone can protect them.
•Think of the colors – yellow bus, red stop sign. Buses make frequent stops. Don’t let that be unexpected, it’s the norm. Always be watching for that red stop sign. Reckless moments caught, and shared, on video in recent years elevate the issue, but with school buses on the road daily, WV DMV is asking drivers to join together in renewing a daily commitment to driving safely around every school bus, every time.
“Just about every automobile is equipped with Bluetooth or CarPlay,” said Frazier. “So please utilize those capabilities and don’t get distracted. It just takes a second, and your life could change forever, as well as someone else’s life.”
