The agency responsible for student transportation is highlighting the importance of school bus safety and the dedicated bus drivers who transport thousands of students throughout Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton.
This week is National School Bus Safety Week, which also coincides with School Bus Driver Appreciation Day today, October 18th.
Kent Orr, general manager of Chatham-Kent Lambton Administrative School Services, or CLASS, says a large part of school bus safety relies on other drivers on the road paying attention to the flashing lights and stopping when necessary.
“Our drivers are highly skilled, they’re highly trained, they’re compassionate, but they need the motorists around them to obey the rules of the road,” Orr says. “As motorists, you need to be aware of the students that are around the bus, getting on and off the bus, that are waiting at the stops.”
CLASS provides bus transportation every day for more than 17,000 students in the Lambton Kent and St. Clair Catholic district school boards. The organization operates nearly 300 school buses which travel more than 45,000 kilometres each day.
