School Bus Safety is Very Important

Did you know that Buncombe County operates the eighth largest school bus transportation system in North Carolina?  Each school day, 291 school buses travel 16,000 miles and transport 17,000 students safely to school and home.

Safety is the school system’s top priority in transporting our state’s most valuable resource, our children.  Buses have been equipped with the latest safety technology, such as cameras and global positioning systems.

While keeping safety in mind, remember that there have been several dangerous incidents across the country involving adults accosting bus drivers, such as the one in Alabama last year. We would like to remind parents and other adults that there is a North Carolina law that states that any person who enters a public school bus or activity bus after being forbidden to do so by the school bus driver or the school principal, will be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

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For the safety of the students and bus driver, if you wish to speak to the bus driver, you should do so at a distance of about 10 feet from the door or at the driver’s side window if the bus is in a safe location.

Be aware that buses are not allowed to travel down non-state maintained roads.  For intermediate, middle, and high school students, the bus can only travel off of a main road if the furthest student on that road is over one half mile down the road. These rules allow Buncombe County Schools to operate as efficiently and as safe as possible.

Also remember… never, ever pass a stopped school bus!

Resources on school bus safety:

For more information, contact Joseph T. Hough, Director of Transportation, Buncombe County Schools, at 232-4240 or [email protected].