"They're big and yellow for a reason."
That's what Georgia's First Lady Sandra Deal has to say about school buses. And despite how obvious school buses may be, it doesn't stop tragedy from happening.
According to the Georgia Department of Transportation, in the 2010-11 school year, 2 of the nation's 8 student deaths involving school buses happened in Georgia. In 2009-10, Georgia led the nation with 5 student deaths involving school buses.
While distracted driving and speeding through schools zones puts kids in dangerous positions, blowing through large stop signs on the side of bright yellow school buses may be a more troubling motorist malady.
We asked Mrs. Deal about her reaction to this statistic: On average, 70 drivers a day blow through school bus stop signs in Houston County.
"That just means there's a lot of irresponsible people out there," Mrs. Deal said. "If they are going to be out on the road, they need to know the road rules."
According to Georgia law, when a school bus has its stop arm extended, all traffic must stop in both directions. The only exception is for traffic separated from the bus by a grassy median or some other physical barrier.
Mrs. Deal wants everyone to be more alert of school bus stops and children as Georgia's kids go back to school this month.
"It would be hard to live with yourself if you killed a child."