School
Buses

Every mirror on the bus exists to cover a piece of that zone. Check and adjust all of them before you ever pull out.

• Outside flat mirrors (front corners): cover traffic and students along the sides and rear. Blind spot directly under/in front of each one, and right behind the rear bumper — that gap can run 50–150 ft, even up to 400 ft on a longer bus. Adjust so you can see 200 ft (about 4 bus lengths) behind, both sides, and the rear tires touching pavement.
• Outside convex mirrors (mounted below the flats): wide-angle view of the sides — distances and sizes look distorted here. Adjust so you can see the full side up to the mirror mounts, the front edge of the rear tires, and at least one traffic lane on each side.
• Crossover mirrors (front corners): show the front "blind" area you can't see directly, plus the danger zone by the service door and front wheels. Also distorted. Adjust so the mirror view overlaps your direct view at the front, you can see both front tires on the ground, and the area from the bumper back to the service door.
• Overhead inside mirror: watches passenger behavior inside the bus. Big blind spot directly behind your seat and another starting at the rear bumper that can stretch 400+ ft — your outside mirrors have to cover that, not this one. Adjust to catch the top of the rear window and every student's head, including the ones seated right behind you.

More students die getting on or off the bus each year than die riding inside one — this is the highest-stakes part of the job.

• Only stop at school-district-approved locations. Never relocate a stop without written district approval.
• Approaching the stop: slow down, scan continuously, check mirrors. Activate amber warning lights about 200 ft / 5–10 seconds before the stop; signal right about 100–300 ft / 3–5 seconds before pulling over (or per your state's timing). Pull as far right as you can.
• Coming to a stop: stop with the front bumper at least 10 ft from the waiting students — it makes them walk to you, giving you a clear view of their movement. Shift to Park (or Neutral) and set the parking brake. Turn on the red lights once traffic is a safe distance away, and confirm the stop arm is out. Double-check all traffic has actually stopped before opening the door.
• Loading: students wait facing the bus and board only on your signal. Count heads — know names if you can, and ask the group if someone's missing. Single file, slow, handrail; dome light on after dark. Don't move until everyone is seated and facing forward, and check mirrors once more for late arrivals. Can't account for someone? Secure the bus, take the key, and check around and underneath.
• Unloading on the route: keep students seated until told to move. Count them off. They walk at least 10 ft from the bus to where you can see them clearly. Recheck mirrors before pulling away.
• If a student must cross in front of the bus: they walk out about 10 ft from the side to where you can see them, continue to a point at least 10 ft in front of the right bumper corner (but clear of the front), then stop at the road's edge where you can see their feet. There they stop, look both ways, check that your red lights are still flashing, and wait for your signal. On your signal: cross far enough ahead to stay in view, pause again at the bus's left edge for a second signal, look both ways again, then cross.
• Unloading at school: shut off the ignition and take the key if you're leaving your seat. After everyone's off, walk the bus checking for hiding or sleeping kids and anything left behind, then run the same mirror/security checks before pulling out.
• Departure checklist (loading or unloading): door closed, transmission engaged, parking brake released, red lights off, left signal on, mirrors checked again, let any backed-up traffic clear.

Post-trip walk: check for items left behind, sleeping students, open windows/doors, and anything mechanically off — especially mirrors, warning lights, and the stop arm. Report anything unusual right away.

Default to keeping students on the bus during an emergency unless staying puts them at greater risk — but don't hesitate once evacuation is clearly the safer call. If there's time, loop in your dispatcher before deciding.

• Weigh: fire risk, fuel smell, risk of being struck, a tornado or flood in your path, downed power lines, whether moving kids would expose them to traffic/weather/hazards or worsen a neck or back injury, and whether a chemical spill is actually safer to just sit tight near.
• Safe distance: generally at least 100 ft off the road, in the direction oncoming traffic is coming from (so debris from any collision doesn't reach the group). Go upwind if there's fire; away from the tracks and toward an oncoming train if it's a rail situation; at least 300 ft upwind for a hazmat spill.
• Tornado in your path: no building nearby — get everyone into a ditch or culvert, face down, hands over their heads, far enough that the bus can't fall on them. Stay out of flood-prone spots.
• Before evacuating: secure the bus (Park/Neutral, parking brake, engine off, key out, hazards on). Notify dispatch with your location and needs if you can. If your radio works, leave the mic hanging out the window for later use; if not, flag a passer-by for help, or as a last resort send two responsible older students.
• Don't move anyone with a suspected neck or back injury unless leaving them is more dangerous than moving them — that takes special handling.
• Once everyone's off: walk the bus to confirm it's empty, grab your emergency gear, rejoin the group, account for every student, and set out warning devices to protect the scene.

A bus has no edge in a collision with a train — and a train can't swerve or stop quickly. Crossings demand full attention every time.

• Passive crossings have no signal device — just a yellow advance warning sign, pavement markings, and cross-bucks. You alone decide whether it's clear to cross, so treat these with extra caution.
• Active crossings have flashing lights (with or without bells), sometimes with gates.
• A white stop line, where present, marks where the front of the bus must stay; without one, stop before the cross-buck.
• Lights start flashing → stop, a train's coming, yield. Gates lowering → stop before they come down and wait until they rise and the lights quit flashing. If a gate stays down after the train clears, don't drive around it — call your dispatcher.

• Stalled or stuck on the tracks: get everyone off and clear immediately, moving away at an angle that takes them off the tracks and toward the direction a train would be coming from.
• Officer directing traffic at the crossing → follow them. No officer and the signal seems off → call dispatch for instructions, don't guess.
• Plan routes with good sight lines, and don't cross unless you're certain nothing's coming — even at an active crossing showing clear, still look and listen, especially at passive ones.
• Storage space rule of thumb: add about 15 ft to your bus's length to know whether there's enough room on the far side of a crossing to fully clear it before you'd have to stop there.

• Never try to referee a behavior problem while loading or unloading — that's when your attention has to be entirely outside the bus. Deal with it once everyone's clear, pulling over if you need to.
• For serious issues: follow your school's discipline policy. Stop in a safe spot off the road, secure the bus and take the key if you leave your seat. Stand, stay calm but firm, and restate the expected behavior — no anger, but make it clear you're serious. Move a student near you if reseating helps.
• Never put a student off the bus anywhere except school or their own stop. If it's too serious to drive safely, call for an administrator or the police — and always follow your state/local process for requesting help.

• Required on: air-brake vehicles built on/after March 1, 1998; hydraulic-braked buses 10,000+ lbs GVWR built on/after March 1, 1999. Many older buses got it added voluntarily. A yellow ABS lamp on the dash means it's equipped.
• Hard braking on a slick surface without ABS can lock your wheels — lock the steering wheels and you lose steering; lock the others and you can skid or spin. ABS prevents that lockup so you keep control, and may let you steer around something while braking, even if it doesn't always stop you faster.
• Brake the same way you always do — only as much pressure as needed, easing off as you slow if it's safe. The one change: in an emergency stop, don't pump the brakes on an ABS-equipped bus.
• If ABS isn't working, your normal brakes are unaffected — drive and brake as usual, just get it serviced. The lamp briefly lights at startup as a self-check on newer buses (older ones may stay lit until ~5 mph); if it stays on past that or comes on while driving, you may have lost ABS at a wheel.

• Strobe lights (if equipped): use in low-visibility conditions, per your state/local rules.
• High winds: the bus's tall sides catch wind like a sail and can push it sideways, off the road, or even tip it in extreme cases. Grip the wheel firmly, anticipate gusts, slow down or pull over and wait it out, and check in with dispatch.
• Backing is strongly discouraged and never done with students outside the bus. If you have no other option: post a lookout (to warn of obstacles/people/vehicles — not to direct your steering), quiet the bus, watch every mirror and the rear windows, and back slowly and smoothly. No lookout available? Set the brake, kill the engine, take the key, and walk back to check the path yourself.
• Tail swing: up to 3 feet — check your mirrors before and during every turn.