NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) - The state highway patrol is preaching caution and patience for motorists as children begin heading back to school. 

The New Philadelphia Post reports there were nearly four thousand traffic crashes involving school buses in Ohio from 2016 to 2018. Lieutenant Mark Glennon says Tuscarawas County has had its share.

“What they forget is that the school other buses are gonna go a little bit slower than most of the other traffic and they’re gonna make more frequent stops, and it’s not just gonna be where people think they would be, so the need to be a little bit more aware of the school buses,” he says. 

Glennon reminds drivers to stop and stay at least 10 feet in front or behind a school bus when its flashers are on and the stop signs are out. They can’t go until the flashers are off, the stop signs are retracted, and the bus is on its way.

“The other thing that we’re also getting out there is to make sure that people understand about the school zones. We’re gonna be out in those school zones those first few weeks to make sure that people understand that school’s back in, there’s restricted speed for certain times during school, so 20 miles an hour through those school zones,” he says.

Glennon also says motorists should plan ahead and leave earlier now that school buses will be back on the roads making frequent stops.

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