With the first day of school in Chilton County beginning Aug. 11, school buses will begin picking up and dropping off students.

Safety from parents, drivers, and other students is important with more than 100 routes being run each day and close to 5,000 students being transported back and forth from school.

Many students will be riding buses around the county, and for students, the greatest risk is not riding the bus, but approaching or leaving the bus.

Several bus safety tips for motorists include:

•Slow down.

•Be alert. Students will be loading and unloading buses near roadways.

•Passing a stopped school bus is illegal, and extremely dangerous for students.

School buses use yellow flashing lights to alert motorists that they are preparing to stop for unloading or loading children. Red flashing lights and an extended stop sign arm signals to motorists that the bus is stopped and children are getting on or off the bus.

“All Chilton County law enforcement agencies have been helpful in enforcing the illegal school bus passing laws and the court system has enforced these, and we as a school system appreciate their efforts,” said Chilton County Schools Transportation Supervisor Jason Griffin. “The safety of all students is our top priority.”

Motorists are asked to be careful around buses so that all of the students in Chilton County can be safely transported back and forth to school, and aware that the laws are being enforced.