Road safety is heavily focused on, especially for our technicians. It's important that we all are aware of these winter driving tips and school bus safety to help keep the roads as safe as possible.

Driving in the Snow:

Driving on snowy or icy roads can be challenging - even for experienced drivers. Here are some safety tips for driving in the snow:

Stay Home. Only go out on the roads if completely necessary. Even if you can drive well in bad weather, it;s better to avoid taking unnecessary risks by venturing out. 

Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Apply gas slowly to regain traction and avoid skids. Don't try to get moving in a hurry and take time to slow down for a stoplight, as it takes longer to slow down on icy/snowy roads. 

Increase your following distance to five to six seconds. This increased margin of safety will provide longer distance needed, if you must stop. 

Don't stop if you can avoid it. There's a big difference in the amount of inertia it takes to start moving from a full stop versus how much it takes to get moving while still rolling. If you can slow down enough to keep rolling until a traffic light changes, do it. 

Don't power up hills. Applying extra gas on snow-covered roads will just make your wheels spin. Try to get a little inertia going before you reach the hill and let that inertia carry you to the top. As you reach the crest of the hill, reduce your speed and proceed down hill slowly.

Don’t stop going up a hill. There’s nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Get some inertia going on a flat roadway before you take on the hill.

School Bus Safety Laws:

School bus pick up and drop off should be as safe as possible for both the children and the parents. It's important to be aware of ALL School Bus Safety laws in the surrounding areas to keep children safe. 

Maryland:

If a school bus stops and is operating flashing red lights, the driver of any other vehicle on the road must stop at least 20 feet away from the school bus and may not proceed until the bus either resumes in motion or the red lights are deactivated. 

Drivers on the opposite side of a divided highway are not required to stop. 

Drivers may not obstruct, hinder, or interfere with a school bus driver or individuals providing public transportation. 

Virginia:

A person will be found guilty of reckless driving who fails to stop when, approaching from any direction, for any school bus stopped on any highway or school driveway for the purpose of picking up or dropping off any children, elderly, or mentally or physically handicapped persons. Drivers must also remain stopped until all such persons are clear of the highway or school driveway and the bus is in motion. Local school systems are authorized to install and operate video-monitoring systems on school buses in order to detect drivers passing stopped buses.

DC:

A driver of any vehicle shall stop the vehicle at least 15 feet from a school bus when it's warning light is flashing, unless the vehicle is on the other side of a divided median.