School Bus Safety Week: Be Aware! Cross With Care!

ALBANY, NY (10/23/2007)(readMedia)-- In recognition of the 2007 National School Bus Safety Week, the New York Association for Pupil Transportation offers the following messages for the public and for state government leaders:

1st: the 2.3 million children who ride on some 54,000 school buses each day are driven to and from school by qualified school bus drivers who have helped to accomplish an exemplary safety record in New York;

2nd: our association will propose a legislative agenda in 2008 that will include significant advances in the state’s training and preparation system for school bus drivers, attendants, technicians, dispatchers and administrators – advances we believe will build on the state’s exemplary school bus safety record.

SCHOOL BUSES STILL THE SAFEST ROUTE TO SCHOOL!

During this 2007 National School Bus Safety Week we recognize that more than 2.3 million of New York’s children ride to school every day on the safest form of transportation in our nation: a yellow school bus. Research has shown that riding to school in a school bus is eight times (see footnote) safer than riding in a car with mom or dad and safer still than riding to school with friends.

A New York school student will step onto or off of a school bus over 1.6 billion times during this school year. Our goal as school transportation professionals is to ensure a safe and secure experience for each and every single student each and every time they board or leave one of our school buses. James Minihan (Katonah-Lewisboro School District) noted that “NYAPT wants the public and all parents to understand the dedication and hard work that it takes to compile our state’s exemplary school bus safety record. Safety doesn’t just happen by chance; it takes training, adherence to rules and best practices and the commitment of all involved.” Minihan called attention to the following information:

  • Over 2.3 million children will be riding on some 54,000 school buses in every corner of the state as the new school year begins. Those school buses are required by law to meet rigid federal standards as well as additional state standards and to be in excellent operating condition each and every day. Today’s buses are equipped with cleaner burning engines and technology that helps keep our children safe. School bus technicians are responsible for inspecting them daily to ensure that they meet these rigorous safety requirements.
  • The nearly 60,000 drivers of our school buses are responsible for safely navigating traffic and weather and for safely receiving and discharging their student riders; school districts and school bus operators are responsible for ensuring that they are qualified to do their jobs. School bus drivers undertake extensive preparation and training and are also subject to background checks and physical performance tests that assure their worthiness to drive the yellow school bus.
  • Getting our children to and from school efficiently each day requires proper planning. Today’s advanced routing systems -- staffed by trained professionals -- are prepared for doing the job of getting children to and from school as safely, efficiently and quickly as possible.

NYAPT also want all parents to know that school bus safety also rests on their shoulders and that they should be encouraging safe behavior by their children as they board and leave our buses each day. We urge all parents to review safe school bus practices with their children on a regular basis.

All of us who share the roads with those yellow school buses also have a serious responsibility: and that is STOPPING when we see a school bus with red lights flashing and stop arms extended. Failure to stop for a stopped school bus means a violation of section 1174 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law punishable by serious fines and the most points you can get on your license short of a DWI conviction. But more importantly, those red lights signal us all that children are getting on or off a school bus. And our children trust us to obey the law and come to a complete stop for their school bus. We urge all motorists to join us in a call to “STOP 4 THE BUS!” so that our children will be safe from harm.

ADVOCATING FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION

NYAPT also announced that it will introduce an advocacy agenda for 2008 that will address numerous issues facing the school transportation industry in the state. Key among these will be advancements in the state’s programs and investments in training for all individuals involved in the school transportation system.

Executive Director, Peter Mannella, noted that the association’s 2008 legislative agenda will include initiatives related to increasing the system for conducting criminal background checks of school bus drivers and attendants, increasing funding for retrofitting school buses with diesel emissions reduction equipment, and strengthening the state’s ability to identify and prosecute individuals who illegally pass school buses.

The Association will also introduce a major proposal related to strengthening the state’s system for training and preparing school bus drivers and attendants, as well as providing increased access to training and development for all professionals engaged in school transportation safety. If enacted by the Legislature and the Governor, the NYAPT proposal will:

Provide for a more systematic approach to developing driver training curricula. Our proposal will ensure that basic and advanced courses will be updated or replaced on a scheduled basis.

  • Provide for a more systematic approach to developing curricula to strengthen the skills and instructional capacity of all school transportation trainers, school bus driver instructors and master instructors;
  • Provide a more systematic approach and clear-cut plan for developing topical training curricula for drivers, attendants, dispatchers, mechanics and other school transportation professionals. This would include programs in transporting the homeless, students with disabilities and other topics including awareness of sexual offenders, bullies and suspicious individuals;
  • Develop a peer review and performance assessment process for School Bus Driver Instructors and Master Instructors, leading to a structured process for renewing the certification and credentials of School Bus Driver Instructors and Master Instructors;
  • Ensure aggressive completion of key curricula, including driver safety manuals, behind-the-wheel training, grade specific student/classroom curricula, updated basic course for drivers, and others, particularly those defined in Section 3650 of the Education Law;
  • Increase professional development opportunities for school transportation administrators and ensure that qualified School Transportation Administrators continue to be available to serve the safety needs of each school district of the state:
  • Ensure that school transportation professionals at all levels have access to a broad array of training to ensure continued high levels of excellence in the performance of their responsibilities.

Mannella stated that the association has keyed in on these issues as priorities among the dozens of issues that affect the safety and efficiency of school transportation in the state. “Those yellow school buses are in the public’s eye each and every day. Our aim is to ensure that school buses continue to be second to none in safety and that every child is excited and secure in his or her school bus ride.”

Footnote:

“American students are nearly eight times safer riding in a school bus than with their own parents and guardians in cars. The fatality rate for school buses is only 0.2 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) compared to 1.5 fatalities per 100 million VMT for cars” (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

“Each year approximately 800 school-aged children are killed in motor vehicle crashes during normal school travel hours.1 Of these 800 deaths, about 20 (2 percent) – 5 school bus passengers and 15 pedestrians – are school bus-related. The other 98 percent of the school-aged deaths occur in other motor vehicles … or to pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists.” (National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences-2002)

About NYAPT

NYAPT is a not-for-profit association comprised of some 600 professionals who are responsible for the safe and efficient transportation of more than 2.3 million children to and from school each day in New York State. For further information on these issues and the NYAPT agenda, please contact Peter Mannella at 518-463-4937 or go to the NYAPT website at www.nyapt.org and click on “Legislative/Advocacy.”