WIESBADEN, Germany – The Department of Defense Dependents Schools - Europe recommends parents teach children bus stop and school bus safely before school starts.

“Children tend to forget about school bus safety over the summer,” observed Dave Sieber, Chief, Logistics Division, DoDDS-Europe. “Parents play an important role in training their children on safety before school begins,” he added.

Sieber said that one of the first steps in child safety training is realizing that traffic rules are different in Europe. Thus the familiar rules many children have been taught in the United States are no longer applicable. “It starts with the fact that in Europe, traffic does not stop for school buses while they are loading or unloading students. For this reason, parents must teach their children a life-saving rule: Never cross the street in front of or behind the bus.”

School safety officials note that children are at the greatest risk for accidents and injuries going to and from the bus stop. To help counter this risk they recommend parents take several steps before the first day of school. They include looking at and knowing your child’s route to and from the bus stop. Show children how to go safely to and from their bus stop by walking the route with them. Review the five basic safety rules with children, and reinforce the rules throughout the year.

The five basic safety rules for children are:

1. Be on time – walk, don’t run to the bus stop
2. Wait for the bus three steps back from the curb
3. Take your seat on the bus, stay in it, and if there are seat belts, buckle up
4. Get off the bus, take three steps away and wait for the bus to leave
5. Never walk in front of or behind the bus

Before the first day of school, parents must also take their children to their local School Bus Office to register students for transportation. “When parents wait until the last minute to register their children for the bus, it could mean the parents may have to transport their children to school for several days at the start of the year,” Sieber warns. During the bus registration process, students will receive a bus pass, information about routes, stops and schedules. Sieber also points out that this is when the student will be given a safety briefing and a copy of the behavior standards and discipline rules.

“Good behavior and safety go hand-in-hand,” Sieber stresses. “Students must comply with the 10 behavior standards for school bus students.”

The 10 behavior standards for school bus students are:

1. Obey the driver or adult
2. Enter and exit the bus safely, and always show your bus pass
3. Stay properly seated and use seat belts when available
4. Keep your hands, feet, and other body parts to yourself
5. Do not throw things
6. Put nothing out of the window
7. Remain quiet, and do not disturb the driver or others
8. No profanity, indecency, smoking, prohibited items or vandalism
9. Do not eat, drink, or chew gum
10. Be responsible, be safe

Parents and students are encouraged to report any safety concerns immediately to their local School Bus Office. But, officials point out; “DoDDS-Europe enjoys an exceptional safety record when it comes to bus transportation.”

Last year, more than half of all DoDDS-Europe students traveled to and from school on buses. There were more than 850 routes totaling about 61,000 kilometers a day, or nearly 11 million kilometers for the school year.

“That’s a lot of clicks,” noted Otto Mueller, Transportation Operations Specialist, DoDDS-Europe. He also pointed out that DoDDS-Europe does not own buses or employ drivers, but mainly contracts with commercial service providers in nine countries.

“Students do not travel in the traditional yellow school bus we know from back home. The vehicles used are European touring coaches and city-transit buses.”

Other differences affect operations in DoDDS-E as well, Mueller said. Host nation laws and regulations governing the transportation of school children are minimal compared to federal and state guidelines routinely practiced in the United States. “They differ from country to country. Traffic does not normally stop for school buses, as in the states. In many locales, designated school bus stops as we know them do not exist,” Mueller said.

“DoDDS-Europe has an excellent record of school bus safety. There has been no bus accident in over five years resulting in a student requiring hospitalization. This is the result of constant emphasis on a set of U.S.-based regulations, experience and best practices that DoDDS-Europe has compiled and refined since taking over the operation of student transportation from the military commands in 1995,” Mueller said. Sieber added, “Unfortunately, most years we get reports of one or two serious injuries to students crossing European streets on their way to and from bus stops, and while boarding and alighting from the bus. That’s why we emphasize European traffic safety for walkers as well as bus riders.”

More information on school bus safety, security, and other transportation information can be obtained from the DoDDS-Europe Newcomer web page or by contacting the School Bus Office in your community.

Dennis K. Bohannon
Public Affairs Officer
Office of the Director
DoDDS-Europe
DSN 338-7612
CIV (49) 0611-380-7612
FAX: DSN 338-7685 CIV 0611-380-7685
dennis.bohannon@eu.dodea.edu

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