October 21-25 is School Bus Safety Week
By Adam D. Hess
This week is National School Bus Safety Week. It’s a great time to say “thank you” to our bus drivers for their commitment to transporting students safely from our schools to their homes every day.
Held during the third full week of October each year, National School Bus Safety Week is an active and evolving public education program and an excellent way for parents, students, teachers, motorists, school bus operators, school administrators, and other interested parties – to join forces and address the importance of school bus safety.
Less than 1% of all traffic fatalities involve children on school transportation vehicles. However, children are more at risk when approaching or leaving a school bus. It’s important for all drivers, as well as parents and students, to understand school bus safety.
School buses are statistically the safest way to transport school children. Unfortunately, dangers still arise: From 2000-2022, there were 55 fatalities in crashes that involved a driver illegally passing a stopped school bus, an average of 2.4 fatalities a year. Almost half of those fatalities (25) were pedestrians who were 18 years old or younger.
In every state, it is illegal for vehicle drivers to pass a school bus while the school bus stop-arm is extended and the red lights are flashing. Failing to stop could result in injury or death to child pedestrians or their caretakers. Vehicle drivers must always come to a complete stop when a school bus stop-arm is extended and the red lights are flashing.
• A driver in a school-bus-related crash could be charged with one of the following:
o A violation for passing a stopped school bus
o A related factor of passing a school bus when prohibited by posted signs, pavement markings, or school bus displaying warning not to pass, and the crash was school-bus-related.
You can get more information about school bus safety by visiting:
https://www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov/safety-topics/school-bus-safety
