Children Send a Message: Time to Start Stopping!

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Copy of first place bumper sticker

ALBANY, NY (09/16/2011)(readMedia)-- The New York Association for Pupil Transportation is proud to announce the winners of its 2011 School Bus Safety STOP FOR THE BUS! Bumper Sticker contest.

The contest is supported in part by a grant from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee using funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to combat the on-going and increasingly dangerous problem of illegal passing of school buses. To participate in the contest, which is in its third year, elementary school students must design a bumper sticker that carries the words "STOP 4 THE BUS" and depicts the requirement to stop for school buses that have their red lights flashing.

This year's contest attracted over 200 entries from across the state of New York and the winners are:

FIRST PRIZE Kirt Hessler Union-Endicott Central School District

SECOND PRIZE Jenna Bull Starpoint Central School District

THIRD PRIZE Jedon Janneh Union-Endicott Central School District

Because both the first and third place winners are from the Union-Endicott school district, a special presentations will be made on Monday, September 19, 2011, at 8:15 a.m, at the Ann McGuinness Elementary School in Endicott, N.Y. NYAPT Executive Director, Peter Mannella, will join Union-Endicott Transportation Supervisor, Lisa Wilson, in making a presentation to the winners and the students of the school. A separate presentation will be made to the second place winner in the future.

Each winner receives a cash prize and a certificate proclaiming their bumper sticker as a winning design. Criteria for selection include originality, color and scheme, accuracy, and visual quality.

The funds are provided to NYAPT to develop educational materials about the problem of illegal passing and to coordinate annual Operation Safe Stop Day in partnership with state and local police agencies. During the 2011 Safe Stop Day, local police officers wrote over 1,600 tickets to motorists who had passed stopped school buses! Historically, the police write over 1200-1500 illegal passing violations on Safe Stop Day at locations designated by school transportation officials as particularly dangerous. Industry professionals estimate that motorists illegally pass stopped school buses in New York State some 50,000 times each day!

NYAPT President, David Christopher, Shenendehowa CSD noted: "Every day, 2.3 million children in New York State take part in the great American tradition of going to school in the safest possible way --- on a yellow school bus. Our school children ride on yellow school buses that meet or exceed federal safety standards and that are inspected daily to ensure their consistent safety. Properly licensed and rigorously trained school bus drivers, who are professionals in every sense of the word, transport our children on those yellow buses. But we can't keep them safe if the public ignores our red flashing lights and continue to 'blow by' the lights putting our kids at risk."

In making this award announcement, NYAPT reminds the public that every time a child gets onto or off from a school bus presents potential risk to those children but that the school transportation industry strives to ensure that each step is a safe step and each ride is a safe ride. To ensure this, school transportation officials provide enhanced training for drivers, attendants and technicians, engage in preventive and corrective maintenance programs, conduct smart and effective routing, reduce idling time and fuel consumption, and educate our student riders about safety.

NYAPT Executive Director, Peter Mannella, noted "Truly, the one thing we can't control are motorists who fail to stop for stopped school buses. Section 1174 of State law requires motorists to STOP when the red Lights are flashing. Failure to stop can result in significant fines and penalties but can also injure or kill a child. All our hard work to keep the kids safe is rendered meaningless by one motorist who decides to pass a stopped school bus ILLEGALLY and strike a child as they are getting off their bus or crossing the street to get on their bus. Those are our children, our neighbors' children, our relatives and our friends! If the thought of injuring or killing one of those children doesn't wake people up, we don't know what will."

NYAPT congratulates this year's winners and their parents and school districts for enabling their participation! Limited copies of the bumper stickers are available by contacting NYAPT at www.nyapt.org (see attached image)

NYAPT is a non-profit professional association comprised of over 600 women and men who supervise and manage school transportation services for local school districts, BOCES, early childhood programs, and private school bus contractors. Members of NYAPT are dedicated to the safe and efficient transportation of our school children to and from school each day.