Illegal Passing a Serious Problem

ALBANY, NY (04/18/2012)(readMedia)-- April 18, 2012, is OPERATION SAFE STOP DAY in New York State.

OPERATION SAFE STOP DAY is an educational and law enforcement effort coordinated by NYAPT in cooperation with the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee and with the entire Pupil Transportation community to call attention to "illegal passing of school buses".

OPERATION SAFE STOP DAY has been conducted every year since 1993. This year, OPERATION SAFE STOP DAY is officially being held on APRIL 18TH and schools and police agencies from all across the state will be participating. David Christopher, President of NYAPT, noted that "all across the state, police officers will be partnering with our members to stop and ticket violators of Section 1174. It's important that we work together to enforce this law to protect our children."

NYAPT is pleased that State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, Barbara Fiala, will join with us in a press conference at AAA-Hudson Valley headquarters at 618 Delaware Avenue in Albany to announce OPERATION SAFE STOP DAY and to share her perspectives on illegal passing of school buses as a traffic safety problem in New York State. NYAPT is also pleased to note that the Director of Pupil Transportation Services at the State Education Department, representatives of the AAA and representatives of both law enforcement agencies and school districts will be in attendance.

NYAPT Executive Director Peter Mannella, noted that "Illegal passing of school buses represents a specifically disconcerting danger to our children. They approach their school bus or step down off their school bus in complete trust that they are safe and motorists who drive past those buses break that trust and expose them to injury or death. It is important that we as adults take our responsibilities as motorists seriously and STOP for the School Bus!"

This is the 19th consecutive year that Operation Safe Stop has been conducted in New York State. Data from the past 3 years shows that 1603 tickets were written by the police in 2011 on Operation Safe Stop Day. In 2010 and 2009, 1,440 tickets and 1,697 tickets were written, respectively. This is accomplished by sharing information among police agencies and schools about areas or locations where the instances of illegal passing are particularly frequent. Local and state police will patrol those areas and apprehend motorists who pass stopped school buses. The police vigorously patrol for this problem all year-round but efforts are intensified by all on this day.

By way of explaining the history and purpose of Operation Safe Stop Day:

First: What is "Illegal passing"? Section 1174 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law requires that all vehicles/motorists STOP whenever they approach a School Bus with its red lights flashing. Motorists are required to STOP in all circumstances, even on divided highways and in all directions. The law provides for stiff financial penalties, possible jail time as well as five points on the driver's license.

Second: What is Operation Safe Stop? In 1993, a group of dedicated school transportation officials came up with the idea of asking local police departments to follow school buses to identify motorists who were passing the school buses. They provided the police with so-called "hot spots" where their drivers had experienced frequent illegal passes and the police concentrated their efforts in those areas and bus routes. Nearly 20 years later, the formula is the same. And so is the problem.

Third: Why Operation Safe Stop? While there is no statewide empirical data, best estimates show that motorists will illegally pass a stopped school bus more than 50,000 times per day. The public needs to understand the dangers that this presents to our children. There are 2.3 million children who ride the yellow school bus each day with the honest expectation that they will get to school and back to their families each day safely. It is our job to make sure we do everything in our power to make their expectation a reality.

Fourth: Have children been injured or killed by illegal passing? YES. Sadly we have had children killed by passing motorists and we have had dozens of children injured by passing motorists. While we had two children killed by illegal passers in 2004 and 2005, we are fortunate in that we have not had any children killed since then. But the risk is always clear and present. School bus drivers report of frequent "right side" passes where a motorist drives along the passenger side of the bus. This exposes our children to being hit by a car as they are stepping off of their school bus or as they are lined up to get onto the bus.

These are the reasons we conduct an annual OPERATION SAFE STOP DAY:

• There is a problem.

• The problem is rampant.

• The problem affects the safety and well-being of our children.

• The problem must be corrected by us: the adults in our society and our communities.

NYAPT continues to work with our great partners in the law enforcement community and with the very supportive Governor's Traffic Safety Committee to provide educational materials and information to the public and other interest groups about this problem. NYAPT President, David Christopher, also noted that "Our goal is that someday we will hold an Operation Safe Stop Day and no one will illegally pass a stopped school bus."

For further information, please contact Peter Mannella at 518-463-4937 or 518-588-3924.