Back to School Safety!
Read this week's safety bulletin, "Back to School Safety" below ! Enjoying all these safety tips? Sign up to receive the weekly bulletin and view all past safety bulletins. Get a PDF version to read, download, and share!
Back to school season is here! A leading cause of death for children ages 5 to 14 is pedestrian- vehicle accidents. Drivers need to step up and use extra diligence when driving around school zones, crosswalks, bus stops, and anywhere children may be playing!
In This Issue:
- Back to School Safety Tips
- Measuring Tire Tread Depth
Back to School Safety Tips
1. Be familiar with school zones. Take note of school zones and crosswalks that are on your regular routes. Accidents, including pedestrian accidents, are far more likely to occur locally on routes where drivers are more familiar and comfortable.
2. Always stop for flashing school bus lights. If a bus has their red flashing lights on, drivers must come to a full stop until the lights stop flashing. If a school bus has yellow flashing lights, they are signaling that they are about to stop, in this case the driver must proceed with extreme caution.
3. Obey crossing guards. School crossing guards are given police training and the same authority as local traffic police in most areas, disobeying a crossing guard may get you in serious trouble. Taking the streets with crossing guards may be safer than taking "short-cut" side streets, where children are unattended. Regardless, always be alert when driving through school zones.
4. Anticipate the worst. It is difficult for younger children to judge the speed and distance of oncoming cars. Always maintain a greater distance and be prepared to brake in case a child runs in front of you.
5. Be careful around parked vehicles. Be especially careful in areas with parked vehicles on the side of the road. Children waiting to cross may be especially difficult to see behind parked sport-utility vehicles.
6. Turn your headlights on. Drive with your headlights on when driving through school zones. The AAA states that the use of headlights can reduce pedestrian accidents by 25 percent.
7. Do not use your cell phone when driving! Using your cellphone while driving is a huge distraction; never use hand-held cell phones while driving, and never use hands-free cell phones while driving in school zones or areas with children. Minimize or get rid of all distractions when driving through school zones.
8. Avoid reversing. It is harder to spot small children while reversing, to avoid any accidents its easier to avoid reversing all together.
9. Don't speed. Remember that school zone limits, during school times or when children are present, are 25 miles per hour. Bad weather or areas with limited visibility require a lower speed. Always use common sense and adjust to your surroundings.
10. Don't honk at pedestrians or bicyclists. Honking at a child will startle them, they can trip or fall causing them to be in a dangerous position for other approaching traffic.
School Buses and Laws:
Even if you do not have kids in school, it is not hard to see the increase in school buses around this time. Laws vary by state but usually you must stop if a school bus is loading or unloading—no matter what side of the street it is on. Passing a school bus while its red lights are flashing is illegal in every state. Watch for school buses stopping at railroad tracks. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the local laws regarding school buses. In their guide, "Reducing Illegal Passing of School Buses," the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that many school buses are illegally passed about once a day. Some buses are even passed on the right (the side children use).
Measuring Tire Tread Depth
Tread depths need to be checked and recorded because the DOT has a legal limit - 4/32” for steer tires and 2/32” of rubber for drive and trailer tires. That means that if any spot in the major grooves of a steer tire is found to be 4/32” or less, that tire must be removed from service. However, it can either be retreaded or moved to the trailer and run down to 2/32" minimum before entering the retreading process. Drive tires would be required to be removed from service or retreaded when any major groove reaches 2/32” of rubber to be safe. Most fleets have found over the years that running the tire down to 2/32” will reduce the number of tire casings that are acceptable for retreading because with so little rubber to protect the casing, cuts, punctures, and stone drilling down to the steel belts becomes a problem. To protect your fleet’s tire investment, it is better to remove the tire in the 6/32” – 8/32” range to maximize your retreadability. The last tip about measuring tread depth: never measure in the decoupling groove which is found in many steer tire designs to reduce irregular wear. This outside decoupling groove is sometimes known as a PDG groove (Pressure Distribution Groove) and they may be very deep or may be very shallow–but it is not the same depth as the major tire grooves.
National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (September 11-17)
Nearly every aspect of daily life is made possible because of our truck drivers!
National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is an important time for America to pay respect and thank all the professional truck drivers for their hard work and commitment in undertaking one of our economy's most demanding and important jobs. These 3.6 million professional men and women not only deliver our goods safely, securely, and on time, but they also keep our highways safe.
Brake Safety Week (August 21-27)
CVSA has announced that this years Brake Safety Week will take place August 21st through the 27th. Brake Safety Week is held annually to ensure commercial motor vehicle brake safety inspection, enforcement, and education initiative. Brake Safety Week is conducted by law enforcement jurisdictions in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. Inspectors will conduct their usual North American Standard Level I and V Inspections and capture and report brake-related data to CVSA. The results will be released in the fall.
View last year’s Brake Safety Week results.
*The Idealease Safety Bulletin is provided for Idealease locations and their customers and is not to be construed as a complete or exhaustive source of compliance or safety information. The Idealease Safety Bulletin is advisory in nature and does not warrant, guarantee, or otherwise certify compliance with laws, regulations, requirements, or guidelines of any local, state, or Federal agency and/or governing body, or industry standards.