Back-to-School Safety Reminders Vital for New Yorkers, says New York Injury Law Firm

    NEW YORK, NY, September 26, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- September 7 marked the first day of the new school season in New York, and more than 2 million children across the state are now getting on school buses to go to class every day. The New York personal injury law firm Kaplan Lawyers PC is offering advice to parents and drivers to make sure these commutes go as safely as possible.

"Drivers too often forget that their habits around school buses have implications not only for their own driving record, but for the safety of children," said John Tucker, director of claims management at Kaplan Lawyers PC. "This is evident in the fact that thousands of illegal school bus passes occur every month in our state."

In just one month of 2017, there were over 50,000 illegal passes of stopped school buses in New York State. The frequency of illegal passes has prompted some New York lawmakers to seek the installment of cameras on school buses to detect and record drivers passing school buses illegally, a move they believe will cause drivers to think twice before carelessly passing a bus.

Tucker said that Kaplan Lawyers PC believes legislation like the "The School Bus Camera Safety Act" is important to strengthening road safety for schoolchildren, but he also said there are many things people can do to make sure our roads are safer for young people.

"Parents can teach their children the basics of safely boarding and getting off a bus," Tucker said. "This includes looking both ways before exiting the bus, using handrails when using a bus's stairs and, perhaps most importantly, staying out of the 'danger zone,' which is approximately 10 feet around the area of the bus."

Tucker says the key thing for children to remember is to take five giant steps when exiting a bus to make sure they are in the safe zone.

Drivers, too, can do their part to make sure school children are safe. Tucker reminds all motorists to faithfully follow speed limits in school zones, always come to a complete stop when a school bus deploys a stop sign and be cautious when driving in school parking lots where children could be walking between vehicles.

"Establishing good safety habits at the beginning of the school year is central to making our roads safer all year long," Tucker said. "Small changes in our behaviors can have massive benefits to everyone on New York roads."

About Kaplan Lawyers PC
The attorneys at Kaplan Lawyers PC help clients in legal matters ranging from personal injury claims to workers' compensation disputes. They have locations in New York City, Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau County and Suffolk County. Visit the Kaplan Lawyers PC website to learn more.

# # #