Back-to-School Safety Tips for Bellflower Drivers, Parents and Children

As the new school year begins, the City of Bellflower is reminding residents to prioritize safety, whether driving, walking or biking.

Driver Safety Reminders

With increased foot traffic near local schools, the City asks all drivers to navigate the roads with caution and patience. To help protect our students, please reduce your speed to 25 mph in residential neighborhoods and school zones, avoid distractions and always stay alert to your surroundings. When dropping off or picking up children, load safely by ensuring they only enter and exit vehicles from the passenger side to avoid stepping out into traffic. Additionally, please be mindful of school buses loading and unloading children, avoid stopping at red curbs or restricted areas and never double park, as doing so blocks traffic and creates dangerous visibility issues.

Parent and Student Safety Tips

As the new school year begins, parents are encouraged to review key safety practices with their children. To ensure a safe commute, students should always look both ways before crossing the street, only use designated crosswalks and obey all traffic signals and school crossing guards. It is also important for children to stay alert to inattentive drivers and other pedestrians while sticking to an established, familiar route to and from school. Families should provide schools with updated emergency contact information, help children memorize home phone numbers and addresses and establish a family "safe word" for any unexpected pick-ups so they remain prepared and aware of strangers.

For additional safety tips and resources, please visit the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department website.