School Bus file photo by Simon Crouch. School Bus file photo by Simon Crouch.
Chatham

First Day Of School Traffic Awareness

It is the first day of school and as students head back to school there is more pedestrian and automobile traffic as well as school buses.

Area police departments are stepping up enforcement around school zones and Chatham-Kent police constable Jason Herder says they are asking people to be aware.

"We'll be looking for making sure people are obeying speed limits in general, that people are staying at the speed limits around the schools as well as school bus safety," he says. OPP Constable Janine Belanger reminds people they not only have to stop for buses with signals flashing they have to give them some space. "The law requires that you stop 20 metres behind the bus, when meeting a school bus in on coming traffic you must keep a safe distance to allow the students to cross in front of the bus well ahead of the bus bumper." Belanger says the 20 metre rule applies when approaching a stop bus from either direction.

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