Back-to-school: Students, parents in Burbank learn about school bus safety

BURBANK, Calif. (KABC) -- As students trickle back to school across Southern California, officials in Burbank are taking the opportunity to refresh parents and students on safety outside of the classroom.

The organization First Student visited Johnny Carson Park -- on a school bus -- offering tips to increase confidence at the bus stop and reinforce safe behavior.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses are 70 times safer than cars, when it comes to getting children to and from school.

Parents and students were encouraged to practice safety when it comes to riding and navigating around those big yellow school buses.

Tips include the proper way to board and get off a bus, and waiting at stop signs until it is safe to cross streets in school zones.

School buses on the road nowadays can include features such as a GPS system that tracks the buses and how fast it's going with kids inside.

Other safety systems include measures to ensure that all children exit a bus by the end of the day, making sure that no sleeping children stay on board.

In Burbank, several other safety features on school buses are working in tandem with a newly implemented speed limit to keep students safe.

The speed limit for drivers around two dozen schools in the city was reduced from 25 miles per hour to 15 around earlier this month.