Does anything pass more quickly than the summer break from school?

While it might seem like the 2016 graduates just got their diplomas and classes just dismissed, Monday and Tuesday will mark the start of the first semester for most area public schools.

The Daily News published bus route schedules for Iron Mountain and Breitung Township school in Wednesday’s newspaper.

With that in mind, it seems timely to pass along advice from the Michigan State Patrol’s Iron Mountain Post on making sure your children know about bus safety, while reminding motorists they need to share the road with school vehicles.

“To reduce the chance of transportation-related injuries, we encourage parents to teach their children about proper behavior around a bus,” said Geno Basanese, community service trooper with the MSP Iron Mountain post.

Children should be familiar with School Bus Danger Zones that extend 10 feet from the bus in all directions. That means students should walk 10 feet away from the bus before turning. Children crossing in front of the bus should move forward away from the bus until they can make eye contact with the driver. They should never cross in front of the bus without the driver’s permission, Trooper Basanese advised.

Additional bus safety tips for children include:

Have a safe place to wait for the bus, away from traffic and the street.

Remain in clear view of the bus driver. Never go behind the bus.

Stay away from the bus until it comes to a complete stop and the driver signals you to enter.

Motorists are reminded to pay attention to school bus lights and observe the school bus stop law.

When approaching a school bus with its lights activated, motorists stop when a slowing bus has its overhead yellow lights flashing, coming to a complete stop at least 20 feet away from the bus when its overhead red lights are flashing.

Daily News (Iron Mountain)