Wake County school bus drivers will start using hand signals today as an extra safety measure.
The district’s bus drivers have three new signals: a palm tells students to wait, a thumbs-up tells them it’s safe to board, and pointing shows students which direction to walk towards the bus.
Wake buses already have arms and flashing lights that tell cars to stop and show students where to walk. But school system spokesman Bill Poston says the hand signals make the commute even safer.
"That’s just another layer of safety with these hand signals to kind of help in that transaction and that movement from bus stop to bus," Poston said.
Wake County students and staff have created a series of YouTube videos explaining the new safety signals. You can view them at the end of this post.
The State Board of Education is requiring all districts to use bus hand signals by January 1.
Since 2007, six Wake students have been struck by cars while walking from the bus stop to their school bus. Two of those students died as a result.
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