A safety guard for a vehicle, such as a school or transit bus, includes a skirt extending below a side body portion of the vehicle and between front and rear wheels along a side of the vehicle. The skirt functions to push individuals and other animate objects out of the path of the wheels for safety purposes, while being mounted for separate linear and arcuate movements relative to the body of the vehicle to protect the guard from damage upon abutting an inanimate object during operation of the vehicle.