By By CHUCK BODIFORD Special to The Standard
Most of the children killed each year going to and from school die within feet of a school bus because someone didn't stop his vehicle for the bus.
With that fact from the Alabama Driver's Manual in mind, the Escambia County Sheriff's Office and Board of Education have created a program to enforce safety laws around the county's school buses.
Beginning next week, deputies will actually ride on school buses along with the driver and students. Following behind the bus at a distance will be another deputy in a cruiser. The deputy inside the bus will radio the information about traffic violations to the deputy following, who in turn will stop a violating vehicle and issue a ticket immediately.
The program was developed after Sheriff Grover Smith and school superintendent Melvin "Buck" Powell met to address their concerns about children arriving to and from school safely.
Larry Davis, school transportation supervisor, said the issue is a daily problem.
The "ride-along's" will be weekly, completely random, and will be used in Atmore, Flomaton and East Brewton.
The following traffic rules were taken directly from the Alabama Driver's Manual concerning school buses: