It's back to school time and the roads will be busy again with buses, a higher volume of children walking, and parents picking up and dropping off students in school zones.

Drivers need to be cautious and take extra care on the road. Drivers can affect pedestrian safety and reduce child pedestrian injury by how they act and react behind the wheel.

In Canada, more children acquire pedestrian-related injuries in the months of September and October. The most frequently reported child pedestrian action that results in injury or death is crossing at an intersection, followed by running onto the road.

"Younger children often lack the cognitive and physical skills to make safe decisions," said Young Drivers of Canada president Peter Christianson.

"In Canada, children aged 10 to 14 years have the highest incidence of pedestrianrelated injuries, but a larger age range of children (5 to 14 years) are at the greatest risk for pedestrian-related fatalities. As drivers, we can predict and prevent these collisions by driving defensively."

Drivers can use the following road safety checklist, to help navigate this busy back-to-school time on the road:

• Be aware of school zone signage.

• Reduce speed in school zones.

• Wait for children to complete their crossing before proceeding.

• Stop at least 20 metres behind a school bus, when the upper red lights begin to flash.

• Motorists traveling in both directions must stop for a school bus, unless the road is divided by a median.

• School buses stop at all railway crossings and are required to open their door, but do not need to use the upper flashing red lights. So there is usually no warning of the stop.

• If driving children to school, drop them off in a safe area away from traffic; most schools have designated zones.

• Change lanes early for bicycles. Many kids ride skateboards, scooters or roller blades on the road, so be prepared for a possible fall by providing extra space.

• Use the ground viewing technique to scan under parked cars for the feet of children approaching traffic.

• Always leave plenty of time to get to a destination. Running late can cause aggressive driving behaviors.

• Avoid driver distractions such as cell phones, eating or drinking, and personal grooming, which take the focus off the road.

For more information on driving tips, visit the Young Drivers of Canada website at www.youngdrivers.com.