Sep 7, 2022 4 min read

With summer vacations and the busy driving season in the rear-view mirror, transportation officials are now focusing their safety efforts on how to protect students on school buses and first responders working on the side of the highway.

Safety advocates, emergency responders and medical experts gathered at the Interstate 70 welcome center near Claysville on Tuesday to meet with motorists who stopped for a break and use the time to educate them on various traffic laws.

The presentation was organized by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and had two tables set up with information on rules about how to safely navigate around school buses, details about “steer clear” laws protecting first responders, laws prohibiting distracted driving and even a demonstration on child safety seats.

“This is all to promote traffic safety and travel awareness,” PennDOT spokeswoman Melissa Maczko said.

State police Trooper Forrest Allison, a spokesman for the barracks near Washington, stressed the importance of the “steer clear” law and how it includes moving away from stopped emergency vehicles or slowing down significantly if changing lanes isn’t an option.

“If the move over part isn’t an option, that doesn’t mean going the same speed,” Allison said. “If we see you attempting to slow down, that goes a long way (for us) rather than blowing by.”

Firefighters from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland also were on hand to discuss the “move over” laws in their respective states and how motorists can protect first responders.

Douglas DeHaven, a member of the Emergency Responder Safety Institute and a retired fire marshal from Hagerstown, Md., noted that 34 first responders have been struck and killed this year while working on the road. There were 65 such deaths last year, he said, and hundred of injuries. The demonstration that he, along with Stowe Township firefighter Rich Derzic and West Virginia firefighter Randy James, produced showed colorful drawings illustrating that motorists should change lanes or slow down when approaching emergency vehicles stopped on the highway.

There were also cardboard cutouts of fire trucks, police cars and ambulance that children could assemble and take with them, which DeHaven said was a “kid friendly” approach in an effort to talk to their parents about serious safety issues.

“If you want to get to the adults, you get them through their kids,” DeHaven said.

There were also demonstrations on what drivers should do when coming upon stopped school buses. The only time motorists are permitted to continue driving without stopping in the vicinity of a school bus stopped with flashing red lights is when a divided highway separates them from each other. In all other circumstances, a vehicle must stop until the school bus continues on its way.

“We want to raise awareness on school bus safety,” Maczko said. “During the summer, everyone has a break from school buses being on the road, so we want to get (motorists) back into the groove.”

Kristen Urso of the Pennsylvania Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, and Jaci Brice of the Highway Safety Network, were at another table giving demonstrations on how to properly install child safety seats and make sure children are securely fastened. Urso joked that most people stopped by the exhibit “after they use the restroom,” but she was thankful for the opportunity to speak with motorists passing through from all different states.

“People don’t realize they have to follow the laws in the states they’re passing through and not the laws in the state where they’re from,” Urso said.

She said they typically discuss expiration dates with car seats and different sizes for various ages, along with showing people the correct – and incorrect – way a child should be seated.

“It’s a good resource to have and answer some questions,” Urso said.

The safety officials spent a few hours at the Claysville welcome center Tuesday and held a similar event at the rest stop on Interstate 79 near the Garards Fort exit in Greene County last week.