For the third straight year, Buster the Bus has rolled into Shelby County elementary schools to teach K-2 grade students about bus safety.

Buster the Bus is a talking miniature school bus, who interacts with students in a fun way to teach them about bus safety rules. Buster has already visited Helena Elementary, Oak Mountain Elementary, Calera Elementary, Linda Nolen Learning Center, Elvin Hill Elementary and Shelby Elementary this week. He will finish his tour of Shelby County Schools with stops at Vincent and Wilsonville Elementary Schools on October 10, Montevallo Elementary on October 27, Mt Laurel and Inverness Elementary Schools on October 28, and Forest Oaks and Chelsea Park Elementary Schools on October 29

“Are you ever supposed to stand up on the bus?” Buster asked the students.

“NO!” the students yell.

The Buster the Bus program was developed by Bryan Nash, who retired from the State Department of Education and the Athens City School District’s Transportation Department. He uses the motorized, talking robot to reinforce the bus safety messages that the first and second grade students heard the year before and to teach them to the kindergarten students who are experiencing Buster for the first time.

Buster interacts with both students and teachers to drive home his message of keeping students safe while waiting at a school bus stop, or while entering, riding, or exiting a bus.  He specifically wants students to understand about the 10 foot danger zone surrounding a bus, where a bus driver’s view is often obstructed.

“Never get into the danger zone,” Buster tells the students.  “Because the bus driver can’t see you.”