BE CAREFUL: The government has added seven new school zone offences, each of which comes with a hefty fine.

Get caught queuing across an intersection in a school zone and you’ll now be slugged with a $439 fine.  And you’ll get two demerit points as well.

This is just one of seven new school zone offences that are now in force.

All seven are already general offences under the road rules, but the punishment has now been increased if you commit them in a school zone.

In some cases the fine has been doubled – as have the demerit points for each of the seven offences.

So now parents need be extra careful when doing the school run to avoid being really stung in the hip pocket.

As well as stopping in an intersection, there are three other offences that come with a 439 fine.

These are; stopping within 20m of an intersection with traffic lights, within 10m of one without lights or stopping near bicycle lights.

The biggest change is for stopping over a pedestrian crossing or otherwise obstructing access to a ramp, path or passageway.

That normally comes with a $110 fine but in a school zone it will cost you $330 – that’s a 200 per cent increase.

Not parking your car in the direction of travel or parking too close the the dividing line in the middle of the road will also see you looking for $330.

While none of the seven offences attract demerit points when committed elsewhere on the road, in a school zone they each come with two points.

The new school zone offences were introduced by Melinda Pavey – Minister for Roads, Maritime & Freight, and are currently in effect.

NSW Bus Safety Week is being held from 6–12 November 2017 to highlight the importance of bus related safety issues for all road users.  Bus Safety Week is organised by Transport for NSW as part of the ‘Be Bus Aware’ campaign which aims to reinforce the road rules relating to buses to the community and promote safer on-road interactions between children, pedestrians, motorists, bicycle riders and buses.

Every day in NSW, hundreds of thousands of school children, workers and tourists use buses to get around and travel all or part of their journey to school and work or to explore our state.  From 2012 to 2016, 29 people lost their lives and 474 people were seriously injured in bus crashes on NSW roads. Of these 29 fatalities, 13 were pedestrians, two were cyclists, eight drivers of other vehicles, two passengers of other vehicles, three bus passengers, one bus driver and a motorcyclist.  Crashes involving buses often result in more severe outcomes to other road users due to their size and mass, and because due to their size and weight, they take more time to stop.

So now is a timely opportunity to have a conversation with your kids or grandchildren, or just refresh your own memory on what are the road rules regarding buses.

Remember, whether you are a driver or a pedestrian – buses can’t stop quickly, and, you must slow down to 40km/hr when lights are flashing on a bus.