August is officially over, and that means it’s time for drivers to add another item to the list of annoyances plaguing their morning commute: The school year.

School buses are big, slow, garishly-colored in all that yellow, and seem to stop every 30 seconds. Walkers and bikers seem to crop up at every crosswalk.

But drivers need to take notice of the cargo those buses pick up and drop off at those oh-so-frequent stops: It’s precious and irreplaceable cargo.

Thousands of schoolchildren across the county will begin boarding buses or otherwise making their way to school buildings over the next couple of weeks, as their districts convene the 2015-16 school year.

When students step foot on those hulking transports or start walking and biking to school each morning, they’ll be putting themselves at risk; trusting that the drivers will be thinking of them first rather than the coffee they don’t really have time to stop for, or the meeting they’re in danger of missing because they didn’t expect so much traffic that morning.

Commuting can easily feel like the worst part of your day, and a growing body of science is showing that’s actually true. It increases your stress, gives you back and neck pain, and generally lowers the quality of your life.

But the next time you’re getting ready to rant behind the wheel this school season, take a deep breath and try to put things in perspective.

It really could always be worse. According to state data, Butler County roads are plenty dangerous.

Last year Butler County saw 24 fatal crashes, and more than 800 wrecks where at least one person suffered an injury, according to yearly data collected by PennDOT. That’s more than two per day.

Those numbers aren’t unusual. In 8 of the last 10 years more than 20 people have died on Butler County roads. In 2004, 30 people were killed.

If that data can teach us anything, it’s that getting behind the wheel of your car, or on the back of your motorcycle, is a dangerous proposition.

But the schoolchildren en route to and from their classrooms each day have even less control over their well-being than a motorist.

It’s up to every driver each morning and afternoon to be responsible — and patient — and help keep Butler County’s students safe on their way to and from school.