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Safety Tips: On the Road

What Parents and Other Motorists Can Do

Most parent-motorists and other road users understand the laws and the need to be careful around school buses. But many people don't understand safety rules for cars around school sites. Following these rules will greatly increase student safety:

• Load and unload children on the school side of the street. Loading or unloading across the street from the school is against Arizona law and exposes children to street traffic.
• Always use the designated student loading areas which have been set aside for parent-motorists. Never ask your child to dart across the street to or from your waiting cars.
• Pull forward in the loading zone. Sometimes, without realizing it, individual motorists unnecessarily congest a parent-motorist-loading zone by planting their car in the middle when they could pull forward.
• Never double- or triple-park in the loading zone. This increases congestion and presents hazards to children trying to weave their way to their car.
• Avoid congestion by arriving a few minutes after dismissal time. Automobile congestion at TUSD Schools is acute and growing worse each year as school enrollments increase. Sometimes it seems like every parent wishing to pick up their child arrives exactly at dismissal time, creating gridlock and safety concerns for students trying to find their way to the family car. If a number of parents would arrive just 10 or 15 minutes past dismissal, they would find the congestion significantly reduced, plus they will no longer be part of creating the congestion.
• Carpool to reduce congestion. RideShare's Parent Pool Program provides free carpool matching assistance.
• Keep your patience, be considerate, and follow safe practices.  In congested conditions, tempers of motorists sometimes flare, but by being patient, considerate, and following safe practices, the safety of all can be enhanced.

Remember, student safety depends not only on Transportation Department actions, school staff support, correct use of fencing and site design, but also upon individual drivers. It is a team effort. Everyone can agree that student safety is the paramount objective of all of us.