School Carpooling: 5 Safety Tips

1)  Meet with your fellow carpoolers. Get to know your fellow carpoolers to gauge how responsible of a driver they are. Use that time to establish some ground rules in terms of pick-up and drop-off times so everyone is on the same page.

2)  Make sure all passengers are buckled-up. Before driving away, make sure all adults and children in the car have a fastened seatbelt. Never let kids share a seatbelt and never transport children in the cargo area of a pickup truck, station wagon, or van 

3)  Keep your eyes peeled. Avoid situations where you’ll have to back up in areas where young children are walking or playing. Also, make sure children get into their house once you drop them off before driving away. Always pay attention to your surroundings in the car.

4)  Don’t play parent in the car. When you are driving carpool, your most important responsibility is driving. When children begin acting out, don’t try and solve behavior problems while driving. If the problem is affecting your driving, pull the vehicle over at a safe place to deal with the issue. 

5)  Pay attention to school guidelines on carpool lines. All schools have different systems in place to manage their carpool lines. Be observant of your school’s system and abide by their speed limit and drop-off and pick-up locations and times.