Illegal Passing Poses Serious Threat to Children

ALBANY, NY (04/29/2009)(readMedia)-- The New York Association for Pupil Transportation will hold a press conference at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 1, 2009, at the C. V. Starr Intermediate School (Brewster Central School District) at 20 Farm-To-Market Road in Brewster, N.Y.

The purpose of the press event is to announce that the Brewster Central School District has been selected to participate in a statewide pilot project related to school bus safety and the dangerously high incidence of illegally passing school buses.

NYAPT has partnered with the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee to install an "ELSAG-MPH900" automatic license plate reader on a Brewster Central School District school bus. The camera is part of a pilot project funded by DMV and the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee with funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The reader is similar to those used by many law enforcement agencies. It is designed to assist in the identification and apprehension of the 50,000-plus individuals who pass stopped school buses each and every day of the school year. Such passing of stopped school buses is a crime and poses serious dangers to our children. A previous pilot of this equipment demonstrated that motorists were passing the school bus on an average of 1.66 times per day.

Local school, municipal, and law enforcement officials will participate in this event and offer remarks about school bus safety.

Members of the press will be able to photograph the ELSAG license plate reader that has been mounted on the school bus, and learn more about how it works.