With the 2026-27 school year now underway, the Bellingham School District is reminding families who walk or bike to school about key safety practices as children and teenagers return to daily routines on neighborhood streets and paths across the city.
Why the Reminder Matters at the Start of School
The first weeks of a new school year consistently see a spike in pedestrian and bicycle activity around schools in Bellingham. Families who relied on cars or stayed home over summer suddenly shift back to daily walking and biking routes, and drivers who may have grown accustomed to quieter school zones over July and August need to re-adjust as well. That transition period, roughly the first few weeks of September, is when safety educators say the risk of accidents near schools tends to be highest.
Part of what makes the early fall period particularly hazardous is the sheer unpredictability of it. Children who have spent months in backyards, parks, and open recreational spaces return to fixed daily schedules that require them to navigate streets at specific times, often in the dark if they are catching early buses or walking to secondary schools with earlier start times. Drivers, meanwhile, have spent months navigating roads with lighter morning traffic and fewer children on sidewalks. The cognitive reset required of everyone on the road takes time, and that gap between old habits and new realities is where accidents happen.
Bellingham Public Schools serves students across a geographically spread-out city, with elementary, middle, and high schools located in neighborhoods ranging from Sehome and Happy Valley on the south side to Cordata and Columbia on the north. Many students live within walking or biking distance of their school, and the district encourages active transportation where it is safe and feasible. That encouragement is backed up by practical infrastructure investments that have expanded options for students who do not ride buses or get dropped off by parents.
Key Safety Reminders for Walkers and Bikers
Standard back-to-school safety guidance from the district covers a few core areas. For walkers, the emphasis is on using designated crosswalks, obeying pedestrian signals, and making eye contact with drivers before stepping into the street. Children are encouraged to walk with others when possible and to stay on sidewalks or the edge of the road facing traffic where sidewalks are unavailable.
The habit of making eye contact with drivers before crossing is one of the most underrated safety practices on the list. Young children in particular tend to assume that because they can see a car, the driver can see them. That assumption is often wrong, especially at intersections where drivers are looking for gaps in traffic rather than scanning crosswalks. Teaching children to pause, make direct eye contact, and wait for a clear acknowledgment from a driver before stepping off the curb is a skill that takes repetition to build but can prevent serious injury.
For students who bike to school, helmet use is both a safety imperative and a legal requirement for riders under 16 in Washington State. Bikes should be checked before the school year begins to make sure brakes, tires, and lights are functioning properly. Brake pads wear down over summer if a bike has been used frequently, and tires that look fine to the eye may be running at lower pressure than is safe for street riding. A quick inspection before the first school-day ride is a simple habit that can prevent mechanical failures at the worst possible moment.
The district recommends that younger riders practice their route with a parent or guardian before riding independently, paying particular attention to busy intersections and driveways along the way. Driveways are a specific hazard worth emphasizing: drivers backing out of residential driveways are typically looking for cars, not for a child on a bike traveling along the sidewalk or shoulder. Slowing down and looking both ways before crossing a driveway apron is a habit that takes deliberate instruction to establish.
Bellingham's network of bike lanes and multi-use paths has grown significantly over the past decade, giving students more separated options for getting to school. The city's transportation planning efforts have prioritized connections between residential neighborhoods and school locations, though gaps still exist in some areas, particularly in newer developments on the city's north and east sides. Families in those areas may need to plan routes more carefully and may be traveling on streets without dedicated bike infrastructure for portions of the commute.
For Drivers Near Schools
The back-to-school period is also a moment for drivers to recalibrate. School zones in Bellingham are marked with reduced speed limits that apply during school hours, typically 20 miles per hour when children are present. Those limits carry increased fines under Washington State law. The financial penalty for speeding in a school zone is designed to serve as a deterrent, and enforcement tends to be more active in the opening weeks of the school year when the district and police department are both paying close attention to compliance near campuses.
In school drop-off and pick-up zones, drivers should follow the established traffic patterns rather than improvising routes that can create unsafe conditions for children on foot. The temptation to cut through a parking lot or pull up to the curb in an unmarked location to save a few seconds is understandable, but those improvised moves are exactly the kind of unpredictable behavior that children cannot anticipate. Established drop-off patterns exist because they create predictability for everyone, including the children walking through the same area.
School Resource Officers from the Bellingham Police Department are active at school sites during the opening weeks of the year, helping manage traffic and reinforce safety habits near campuses. Community members who observe unsafe driving patterns near schools can report them to the BPD non-emergency line.
Resources for Families
The Bellingham School District's transportation department maintains information on safe routes to school and bus eligibility on the district website. Families whose students are eligible for bus service can find route information and stop locations through the district's online transportation portal. For those who walk or bike, the district's school safety page offers additional tips and resources.
Washington State's Target Zero program, which works to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries statewide, publishes walking and biking safety resources that are useful for families reviewing routes with children at the start of a new school year. Pairing those resources with a practice walk or ride before the first solo commute is one of the most effective ways to help students build confidence and identify any hazards on their route. Doing a dry run on a weekend morning, when traffic is lighter and there is no time pressure, gives both the child and the parent a chance to spot problems without the stress of running late.
The school year is also a good time for neighbors near school routes to be extra attentive during morning and afternoon peak times, keeping driveways clear and watching for young pedestrians who may not yet have the traffic awareness of older walkers. Overgrown shrubs near sidewalks, vehicles parked across pedestrian paths, and poorly lit stretches of road are all things that neighbors can address or flag to the city. A neighborhood that looks out for its students makes the whole route safer for everyone, and that collective responsibility does not require any special training to act on.
