make a difference. • Use your horn as a

make a difference. • Use your horn as a warning: A light tap on the horn (not :• “leaning” on it) can alert a child to your approach from behind. Blasting the horn may scare the child, which is >' especially dangerous if he is riding a bicycle. - • Use extra caution around buses: Be familiar with the light ; signals on buses. Flashing amber lights alert other drivers that the bus is about to stop; flashing red lights require other I- drivers to stop their vehicles until the lights are turned off j£* (not just until the last child boards or exits the bus). Children ;»; may cross the street in front of or behind the bus after they have been let off. They don’t always look - especially if they are running to greet a waiting parent. • Be patient, especially on the way home: AAA reports that the risk of accidents is four times greater on the way home than in the morning. The reason is simple: adult commuters are tired, and sometimes irritable, after a long and perhaps trying day at work. Children, however, are elated at the end of the school day. In these circumstances, the minutes spent behind a bus discharging children can seem like hours. Control your impatience. Remember that the bus driver is required to wait until ALL the children have not only left the bus but have crossed the street, and all children still on the bus are seated, before he can turn the red lights off. That straggling child may suddenly decide to dart across the street to join friends.

One other thought for the season. The best way to keep ) , your cool is to allow some extra time to get to work -- I especially in the morning when traffic tends to be more congested. That way you won’t have to get upset about that slow-moving bus in front of you. A leisurely drive to work could become a great habit to start the day. *