Back-to-School 2018-19: Lessons to learn for a safe school year

It may not feel like it from the scorching Kern County heat and long days, but summer is drawing to a close and students are preparing to go back to school.

While some local school districts begin school in early August and late event late July, the biggest school districts begin Aug. 15. Bakersfield College begins session on Aug. 18, and CSU Bakersfield’s fall semester starts Aug. 27.

And with the start of school comes the hectic schedules. Remember and share with students that safety and health throughout the entire school year are the most important lessons to learn.

Sadly, 301 school-age children 18 and younger were killed in school transportation-related crashes from 2006 to 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And over the last decade, nearly two-thirds of school-age pedestrians fatally injured in school transportation-related crashes were struck by school buses or other vehicles when getting on or off a school bus. Thousands more are injured from campus-related accidents.

Please review these simple tips, and be sure to share them with your students to make sure they stay safe when traveling to school, on campus, and in getting home.

STROLL TO SCHOOL

• Pedestrian Safety: Walk on the sidewalk. If there is no sidewalk, and you must walk in the street, walk facing traffic.
• Before crossing the street, stop and look left, right and left again to see if cars are coming.
• Never dart out in front of a parked car.
• Parents, practice walking to school with your young child, crossing streets at crosswalks when available.
• Never walk while texting or talking on the phone. Focus when walking near traffic.
• Do not walk while using headphones.
• Use crosswalks whenever they are available to cross the street.

BIKE RIDERS

• Always wear a helmet that is fitted and secured properly.
• Children need to know the rules of the road. Ride single file on the right side of the road, come to a complete stop before crossing the street, and walk the bike across.
• Watch for opening car doors and other hazards.
• Use hand signals when turning.
• Wear bright-colored clothing.
• Stay in the bike lane whenever possible.
• Use the sidewalk appropriately and keep an eye out for other pedestrians.
• Never use electronics while riding – they are distracting.

THE WHEELS ON THE BUS

• Line up 6 feet away from the curb as the bus approaches.
• If seat belts are available, buckle up.
• Wait for the bus to stop completely before standing.
• Do not cross in front of the bus if possible, or walk at least 10 feet ahead until you can see the other drivers.
• Face forward after finding a seat on the bus.
• Exit the bus when it stops, look left-right-left, and take five steps away from the bus toward the curb.

DRIVING

Parents and guardians driving their students to school should take note of the following safety tips while driving.

• The car shouldn’t move until everyone is buckled up.
• Don’t block crosswalks
• Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, and take extra care in school zones
• Never pass a vehicle stopped for pedestrians
• Never pass a bus loading or unloading children
• The area 10 feet around a school bus is the most dangerous for children; stop far enough back to allow them to safely enter and exit the bus
• Use appropriate car seats and booster seats for younger passengers.

For some teens, back to school also means the new-found freedom of driving. Teens crash most often because they are inexperienced. They struggle judging gaps in traffic, driving the right speed for conditions and turning safely, among other things.

And research tells us that teens are the largest age group reported as distracted at the time of a fatal crash. Texting is clearly a dangerous distraction. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds on average, and at 55 mph, that is equivalent to driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed. In 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed, and 391,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers, according to the National Safety Council.

Simply put, make sure drivers put does their phones at all times.

PREVENTING INJURIES AT SCHOOL

Students should watch out for several other dangers on campuses, including:

• Backpack safety: Backpacks that are too heavy can cause a lot of problems for kids, like back and shoulder pain, and poor posture.
• Playgrounds: A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that emergency departments still see more than 20,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related traumatic brain injury each year.
• Sports: Every three minutes, a child in the U.S. is treated for a sports-related concussion. Learn how to identify concussion symptoms and steps to keep kids safer on the playing field.
• Bullying: Bullying can be physical, verbal, or social. It can happen at school, on the playground, on the school bus, in the neighborhood, over the Internet, or through mobile devices like cell phones.

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If you or someone you know is injured in an accident on the way to school, on campus, or coming home from school, please contact the personal injury attorneys at Chain | Cohn | Clark by calling (661) 323-4000 or read about our Bakersfield law firm.

Teachers, staff members, or other employees of schools injures at work can contact the workers’ compensation lawyers at Chain | Cohn | Clark at (661) 323-4000, or visit the specialized workers’ compensation website.

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