Going back to school isn't just for students.

Parents, grandparents, guardians and older siblings will be getting back into the swing of picking up and dropping off students who don't walk, ride bikes or ride the bus. In the beginning of the school year, as routines are established, drivers are tasked with nimbly navigating around school children, buses, kids who come out of nowhere and crawling traffic in the morning and afternoon hours.

"The student drop-off/pick-up lanes at our schools get very busy in the mornings and afternoons," said Scott Maben, director of communications for the Coeur d'Alene School District. "At some schools, we have hundreds of vehicles lining up to drop off or pick up their students, and these lines can spill out into the streets. The procedure can take longer than expected, and we caution families to be patient and mindful of safety."

The Coeur d'Alene Fire Department will be staging at or near all of Coeur d'Alene's elementary schools on Tuesday to provide added awareness and alert motorists that children are returning to school. Emergency vehicles will have their emergency lights turned on to warn drivers in the area. Fire personnel will also assist children with crossing busy streets.

"Motorists are being asked to use caution on our roadways, in neighborhoods and anticipate children walking to and from schools each day," states a back-to-school news release from Coeur d'Alene Fire.

According to Zendrive, a company dedicated to making roads safer using data and analytics, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for all school-aged kids in the United States.

The worst hours to be a kid are pick-up and drop-off times: 7 to 8 a.m. and 3 to 4 p.m., according to information in the Back to School 2018 Zendrive School Safety Snapshot on www.zendrive.com.

Zendrive gave Idaho and Kootenai County a "B" in the relative safety of the roads around a school. The more unsafe driving events per trip, like hard braking and phone fiddling, the lower the grade.

Harrison Elementary School received an "A+" and ranked No. 1 in the county, followed by Kootenai Junior-Senior High School, Fernan STEM Academy, Christ the King Child Development Center and Canyon Elementary School.

Twin Lakes Elementary School was ranked last in the county (No. 63) and received an "F" grade. Bad driver behaviors included aggressive acceleration, hard braking and phone use, but Twin Lakes was given an "A+" for speeding.

Dalton Elementary received a "D-" and ranked No. 62. Aggressive acceleration, hard braking, phone use and speeding all contributed to this grade. Coeur d'Alene High School was given a "D+" and was graded below average on braking, phones and speeding.

"It's very important that parents and guardians know and follow the drop-off/pick-up procedures for their school," Maben said. "Sometimes we have drivers that attempt to do this across the street or in a parking lot of a nearby business. This can be dangerous for kids who leave the supervised pick-up/drop-off zone in front of the school."

The Coeur d'Alene Police Department Traffic Team and school resource officers will be out in force conducting a traffic emphasis starting the first day of school and continuing through the week. Officers will patrol school zones while the fire department safely escorts the kids across the streets. Officers will address all moving violations in these areas. The fine for a speeding violation is $156.50. Penalties will be enhanced in school zones.