How to Mitigate Risks in Student Drop-off and pick-up Zones

As the day came to a close at Anyschool Elementary, students had loaded onto the buses and sat ready for their ride home. With the loading zone clear, the adult monitors returned to the building. Ms. Smith, an experienced and reliable driver, started her bus and prepared to depart.

The standard procedure was for buses to park far enough from the curb that they could leave by pulling forward. On this day, a school administrator was addressing a behavioral issue on the bus in front of Ms. Smith’s. Meaning, Ms. Smith had to back-up her bus to pull away.

After checking her mirrors — exactly as she was trained to do — she put the bus in reverse. Unexpectedly, a teacher with waving arms ran up to the bus door. Ms. Smith opened the door and the teacher blurted, “If you see Salaya’s mom, please tell her Salaya’s shirt got muddy on recess so she’s wearing one from the office.” After the 5-second interaction, with the teacher back on the sidewalk waving to students on the bus, Ms. Smith started to back the bus up. Within seconds, screams came from the back of the bus.

Ms. Smith was unaware that a student was behind her bus, kneeling to tie his shoes.

The student was the son of the teacher who had stopped Ms. Smith. He had walked outside with his mom and spotted a soccer ball in the field on the other side of the loading zone. When his mom ran ahead to stop the bus, he walked behind the bus to retrieve the ball and stopped to tie his shoe. Though the bus’s back-up beeper was activated, the student was listening to music through his earbuds.

It was a tragically unexpected and unforeseen situation — and one that could have been prevented.

While the obvious purpose of this story is to grab your attention, it is, unfortunately, a realistic scenario. In school transportation, the greatest risks to student safety lie outside of vehicles. In fact, most bus related student fatalities occur during bus loading and unloading procedures.

Why are student drop-off and pick-up zones high risk?

Student drop-off and pick-up zones (DO/PU zones) are areas designated for the loading and unloading of students from buses and private vehicles. At most schools, students walking or riding bikes enter or exit school grounds alongside these buses and vehicles. This results in a high volume of vehicles and pedestrians in a relatively small area, which creates congestion issues and, more importantly, risks to student safety.

Here are some statistics from the NHSTA School-Transportation-Related Crashes fact sheet:

From 2008 to 2017, 264 school-age children died in school transportation-related accidents. 97 of the students were pedestrians.

• Over half of the student pedestrians killed were struck by school buses.
• Almost half of the school-age pedestrians who died where 5 to 10 years old.

A more recent NHTSA fact sheet shared that in 2020, 177 child pedestrians died in traffic crashes. Though the statistics do not specifically state these deaths were school related, nearly 40% of the accidents happened on weekdays between the hours of 6 to 9 AM and 3 to 6 PM, prime hours for traveling to and from school.

Creating Safe Drop-off and Pick-up Zones

The design of student DO/PU zones and the policies and procedures developed for them must ensure safe and efficient methods for students to arrive at and leave from school. This article will share ways to mitigate common risks associated with school DO/PU zones. Please disregard any information in this article that conflicts with your local laws, regulations or district policies.

Key Steps

There are four key steps that help in the development of a smooth and safe DO/PU process:

1. Form a collaborative planning team.

2. Analyze the situation.

3. Develop a plan.

4. Communicate the plan.

1. Form a Collaborative Planning Team

The first step is to assemble a team of parents, students, school staff (including representatives from  the district level, school level and the transportation office), local officials, local law enforcement, community representatives (such as businesses close to the school or ones affected by congestion) and outside agencies/consultants.

2. Analyze the Situation

To be effective, a plan must be based on complete and accurate information. There are different ways to collect information about your school’s DO/PU procedures:

Surveys. Solicit feedback on your current DO/PU procedures. Seek the input of parents, bus drivers, staff, students and members of the community. Encourage responders to identify areas of concerns, give examples of problems they encounter and to share ideas for improvement.

Diagrams. One idea for evaluating the current state of DO/PU zones is to analyze video of traffic flow.1 Possible ways to obtain video is to use existing security camera footage (if they capture a large enough area), hire a company to capture video using drones, or film the DO/PU process by taking video from the building rooftop. Whatever method used it is important that all traffic/movement is captured for analysis.

Diagram this information on a map (such as an overhead view of the area from an online map). The map should include all entrances onto school property and the surrounding streets – especially streets that students must cross. Clearly indicate the different types of traffic (pedestrians, school transportation, personal vehicles, student and staff vehicles/parking).

Records. Ideally, a complete record of any accidents, injuries or near misses associated with DO/PU procedures will exist. These records can help to identify problem areas and/or ineffective procedures associated with the current DO/PU process. Compile information from both school and transportation department records.

3. Create or Modify Plans

After analyzing the information collected, the next step is to map out new or improved DO/PU plans and procedures. Following are some tips and strategies to consider that will help to protect student safety and create smooth traffic flow.

4. Communicate the Plan

Pupil transportation services and school officials have a responsibility to communicate DO/PU policies and procedures with parents/guardians¹ and to make them available to the surrounding community. Maps and diagrams/schematic drawings of DO/PU zones and procedures are valuable tools for communicating this information. They should clearly indicate traffic flow, entrances and exits, DO/PU zones, student crossings, etc.

Providing parents with clear, consistent and frequent messaging is vital to a safe and efficient DO/PU process.⁵ Information can be shared through newsletters, emails, social media, local media, posted on school websites and sent or mailed to homes in hard-copy form.¹

Along with sharing the plan, current and ongoing information can be shared to provide:

• Regular reminders of DO/PU procedures.
• Notice of inclement weather (e.g., pavement could be slick from ice or visibility could be limited because of fog or heavy rain).
• Changes to traffic patterns or delays due to construction, accidents, etc.
• When significant traffic increases are expected.

Communities with a large non-English speaking population will benefit from multi-lingual communications.³

Additional Student Drop-off and Pick-up Safety Ideas

Staff/Volunteer Assistance

Staff and volunteers should be present in DO/PU zones to help facilitate safe and smooth operations. Staff and volunteers can help to:

• Provide curb-side assistance to help student enter and exit vehicles.⁴
• Direct traffic.
• Assist students to cross surrounding roads or through DO/PU zones on school property.
• Supervise students in bus loading/unloading zones.
• Encourage appropriate behavior in students (and parents).

All helpers should wear safety vests and/or use traffic wands. Key personnel should be provided with two-way radios to communicate.

Bus Loading/Unloading Zones

Bus loading and unloading zones should not be accessed by other vehicles. Use physical barriers such as gates to restrict access.

Bus loading and unloading zones should provide adequate space for buses to safely maneuver.² As much as possible, buses should move in a forward direction. Backing a school bus is one of the most dangerous bus maneuvers. If a bus must back-up, all students should be on the bus or clear of the area and an adult should be positioned at the back of the bus (inside or out) to direct it.¹

Before moving, adult monitors should perform a thorough curb check and communicate with each other over two-way radios to ensure all students have boarded or entered the school. Buses should not move until they receive confirmation that the area is clear.

Routines

Developing and following a routine is an important way to protect students throughout the DO/PU process. Consistency helps students and drivers know what to expect. Having said that, even the best plans cannot eliminate all human error and unforeseen events.

As part of routines and preparing for the unexpected, crosswalk monitors should use multiple – though consistent — signals. For example, for monitors who use whistles, a continuous whistle blow can indicate it is safe to cross the road; a series of short, successive whistles can be used to alert students to an emergency (e.g., cars that appear to not be slowing; approaching emergency vehicles).

Transportation/School Communication

All school employees should be taught to record and report problems through accident/injury/near-miss reports. The transportation office and school administration should be in constant communication to ensure any problems receive an immediate and effective response and remedy.

Maintaining Student Pick-up and Drop-off Zones Safety

Like with many safety efforts, maintaining the practices and procedures your district has implemented in its student PU/DO zones requires continuous reinforcement.

• Partner with local law enforcement: Local law enforcement can help to enforce the laws and encourage voluntary compliance with traffic laws.³
• Involve the community: Work with community offices and leaders to install and maintain crosswalks, safe speed limits, adequate and visible signage, and traffic lights.
• Ongoing training: Provide continuous training for bus drivers to maintain and improve their skills.² One of the most important areas of training is how to properly adjust and use mirrors.
• Educate students: School staff members have a role in educating students. Students must understand proper behavior in DO/PU zones and when walking or cycling to school. Provide frequent reminders for students to stay clear of traffic when walking on sidewalks and to always look both ways before crossing. Discourage students from looking at screens or wearing headphones when walking near roads/around vehicles. In addition, young motorists should be taught and frequently reminded of safe driving habits in school zones and on school property.

Ensuring student safety in student DO/PU zones is of the utmost importance. It is incumbent upon schools to create (and revise), implement, enforce and publicize DO/PU policies and procedures. It is a good idea to review and revise plans and procedures prior to the start of each school year and as needed (e.g., to address heavy congestion or long waits and as needed evidenced by accidents and/or near misses). Always tailor your strategies to the school’s and community’s specific needs.