CHARLESTON, W.Va. — With school starting in less than two weeks for Kanawha County students, the county school system is improving how students travel to school.
Kanawha County Schools Transportation Executive Director Brette Fraley one of the biggest issues for the school system is getting on the bus in the morning; students have difficulty seeing where they are walking to get to the bus stop. In response, Kanawha County Schools bought new “guardian angel” lights that would be placed on the front bumper of the bus.
“It lights a pathway for the students to see to get to the bus, and it eliminates the process,” he said. “It allows the folks traveling to see the kids more clearly.”
These lights were installed on 50 buses, and Kanawha County Schools previously approved installing such lights on an additional 50 buses.
“Like floodlights, whenever the driver activates the stop sign, those lights engage below the stop sign to put out a pathway for the students,” Fraley said. “To give them a clear path to the bus, and for the commuters to see the students more clearly.”
Fraley added it has been proven additional lights help kids see the bus better.
“If there’s something in a roadway that a student normally wouldn’t see or possibly trip over, they’d be able to see it,” he added.
Fraley said these lights are not designed to shine toward anyone directly, rather allowing the bus driver to see where the students are boarding onto the bus.
Along with the new lights, the buses’ stop signs have been cut from six feet to four feet. According to Fraley, there have been instances of stops signs hitting trees and mailboxes in rural areas.