The Riverside County Sheriff's Office is urging drivers to exercise increased caution during National School Bus Safety Week, taking place from Monday, October 16 to Friday, October 20. The focus is to ensure the protection of school-aged children using buses for transportation, given the continuous risk posed by drivers neglecting to halt for buses, an obligatory practice by law.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Office states that National School Bus Safety Week serves as a critical reminder to parents, children, school staff, and law enforcement alike about the significance of school bus transportation. Despite being the safest mode of transport for pupils, the consistent problem of drivers illegally passing school buses when red lights on the bus are activated, remains, thereby endangering young passengers.

Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) exposes a disconcerting fact: from 2000 to 2021, 53 deaths were reported due to drivers illegally passing a school bus, with half of the victims aged 18 and under. These figures emphasize the necessity for driver attentiveness and awareness around school buses.

The law in California states that drivers are required, in both directions, to stop when a school bus's red lights are flashing. The Riverside County Sheriff's Office specifies that a driver may only proceed once the red lights stop flashing and all children are safely off the road. Nonetheless, despite these safety measures, some drivers choose to disregard these laws.

National School Bus Safety Week aims to raise awareness about the societal responsibility we all bear to protect children traveling to and from school. Echoing that sentiment, Sheriff's Deputy Darrick Bunn stated: "Safety on the road is a shared responsibility. During National School Bus Safety Week, let's all diligently focus on protecting our children. Let's get into the habit of halting for school buses, together we can ensure safer school trips."