Monday morning is bound to be a traffic nightmare across Warren County. The first day of public school always is as thousands of students are ferried to and from campuses from Redwood in the north end of the county to South Park in the southern end.

Just because it will almost certainly be a headache, doesn’t mean it has to be a disaster.

Vicksburg Warren School District Transportation Supervisor Robert Bass offered a sound piece of advice we hope everyone follows this school year.

“Make sure you are careful in school zones and watch for stopped buses loading and unloading students,” he said.

Students and parents will be driving to school, many of them running late and in a hurry. Traffic will be slowed as parents say goodbye to their children, and school buses will be on the road again for the first time in months making frequent stops on the city’s most heavily trafficked streets. Drivers should slow down and allot extra time to get to their destination. Mississippi 27, which leads to Warren Central High School and Beechwood Elementary School, has been particularly dangerous in recent years so all drivers should use extra caution there.

At bus stops, parents should make sure their kids are on their best, and safest, behavior.

“I love for my students to be at the bus stop on time with their parents,” bus driver Brenda Brown said. “There should be no playing around at the bus stop. They need to follow my directions on crossing at the bus stop, 10 feet out, looking at me. They need to stay seated at all times and follow my directions.”

Every student and parent driving should also be securely buckled in. Seat belts save lives. We’ve seen it plenty of times and know it’s true.