With the arrival of September a number of annual occurrences take place.
Two things of particular note is that farmers throughout our region head to the fields to begin the annual harvest, and schools open their doors to students returning for another year of education.
It is also a time when drivers need to rededicate to a level of awareness they may have let slide just a little over the relaxing months of summer.
With fall youngsters return to our streets in greater numbers heading to and from school.
For two months school zones have not been the busy places they usually are as drivers pass through. But with schools reopening drivers need to once more make sure they are diligent and obey the reduced speed limits in school zones.
It is also important to remember that youngsters are also on the streets heading to hockey practice, trekking back to involvement in groups such as Boy Scouts, and various cadet corps.
And the diligence of drivers needs to extend to our rural roads too.
To begin with school buses are back on the roads picking up and delivering rural students. It is important to remember to stop when a school bus' red lights are flashing in order to help ensure youth safety.
Rural drivers also need to watch for farm equipment on the move in the fall.
Today's swathers, combines and grain truck are huge pieces of equipment which take up a big chunk of the road as they move field to field. At times they can seem to be an inconvenience for regular drivers, but they are part of modern agriculture, so make sure you drive with extra caution through harvest.
A little extra caution by us all can help make sure our streets and rural roads are safe through the busy autumn season.
