SALEM TOWNSHIP -- Video of 20 students being rescued from a burning school bus in Maryland has led to a greater emphasis on school bus safety.
The driver was able to get each student safely off this bus, but the frightening ordeal put more weight into a school bus safety training at Salem Elementary School near Berwick.
The Mid-Atlantic Foundation for Safety through AAA spent the day gathering groups of young students and training them how to safely evacuate a school bus through all possible exits in case of an emergency.
“Because we are rural, a majority of students are on buses, so that is why it is so important in areas like this to have bus safety so they know what to do,” said Andreea Higdon with AAA.
Students also got safety tips and reassurance that overall school buses are safe.
“If you were in the front and you yelled to someone who was in the back, the bus driver could look back and they won’t be looking at the road and they could hit something,” said student Audra Lear of Berwick.
“The bus is the safest thing to be on than a car or a plane or something,” said another student, Aiden Walsh of Berwick.
"I think the younger they are its kind of hard for them to grasp danger. That's why we just go over the rules on how to stay safe," said Higdon.
Repetition helps reinforce any learning, so it's why this school bus training is done every year. This year had a little added recent reminder of how being prepared in an emergency can save lives.
