Extreme Safety: School Buses Back on the Road!

ALBANY, NY (09/07/2010)(readMedia)-- The New York Association for Pupil Transportation wants to remind all New Yorkers that our School Buses are back on the road today!

NYAPT President, David Christopher, Shenendehowa CSD, noted: "Today, as millions of children in New York State start their new school year, NYAPT wants parents and families and neighbors to know that 2.3 million of those children will take part in the great American tradition of going to school in the safest possible way --- on a yellow school bus.

"Our school children in New York will ride on yellow school buses that meet or exceed federal safety standards and that are inspected daily -- by each bus driver -- to ensure their consistent safety. Our school children will be transported by properly licensed and rigorously trained school bus drivers who are professionals in every sense of the word.

Over the course of the school year that begins today and ends some 180 days from now, those 2.3 million children will get on or off of a school bus over 1.6 billion times. Every one of those steps presents potential risk to those children but also offers all of us an opportunity to excel. The school transportation industry dedicates itself to that excellence, to efficiency, to effectiveness and to the highest quality of service.

School transportation professionals are all about Extreme Safety! We are committed to taking Safety to a new level through enhanced training for our drivers, attendants and technicians, by extensive preventive and corrective maintenance programs, by smart and effective routing, by reducing idling and fuel consumption, by educating our student riders about their role in ensuring their ride is safe, by committing ourselves to the ultimate safe ride for the children.

NYAPT Executive Director, Peter Mannella, noted that: "As we start this school year, we remind motorists in our state that when the RED Lights are flashing, the law says you must STOP for the school bus. We do all that is in our power and ability to keep our children safe. All that hard work can be 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. We ask all New Yorkers to remind themselves and their neighbors and families to STOP for the School Bus whenever they see those RED FLASHING LIGHTS!"

Schools In! Be Safe! Stop for the School Bus!

(NYAPT is a non-profit professional association comprised of over 500 men and women 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.)