Enhancing School Bus Safety

Volume 2, Number 5 - August/September 1999

Despite the fact that all 50 states require vehicles to stop for a school bus that is loading or unloading, substantial numbers of motorists ignore the flashing red lights and extended stop arms. One study revealed that, on a typical school day in Florida, nearly 10,600 vehicles illegally pass school buses. Projects around the country are demonstrating that combining intensive enforcement of passing (or "stop arm") laws with public education can effectively address this problem. Such programs are necessarily collaborative, often involving school departments, law enforcement agencies, the media, and parent groups. Activities to reduce the illegal passing of school buses are another demonstration of the value of including law enforcement agencies in Safe Communities programs.

High-Profile Enforcement

Law enforcement agencies use several strategies to protect children on their bus trips to and from school. The Clearwater (Florida) Police Department uses school bus driver reports to identify areas with high levels of illegal passing. The department targets these areas for intensive enforcement of stop-arm laws and high-profile speed enforcement, since excessive speed often contributes to failure to stop for a bus. The department also conducts a public education campaign reminding drivers of their obligation to stop for school buses and the consequences of violating the laws. In addition to being featured in public service announcements, the "Stop for Red or Stop for Blue, School Bus Safety Is Up to You" message appears on bookmarks that are distributed at libraries and handed to car-wash patrons with their receipts. The slogan also appears on coffee mugs used as rewards for school bus drivers who report violations. Program Coordinator Sgt. Steve Burch says, "Pamphlets get thrown away. It is better to put your message on something that people reuse."

Driver Checklists

Another model is being used in North Carolina. Using data collected at North Carolina's annual one-day count of stop-arm violations, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) selected New Hanover and Onslow Counties (which have higher than average numbers of violations) and Pendar County (which sits between the two) as the sites of a NHTSA-funded project. DPI, in conjunction with law enforcement agencies, the district attorney's office, and the Department of Motor Vehicles, developed a simple checklist for bus drivers to use in determining if a driver committed a prosecutable stop-arm violation. School bus drivers used this checklist to conduct a four-week survey of these violations. By combining this data with a computerized map of bus routes, Jeff Tsai of the Institute for Transportation at North Carolina State (which coordinated the effort) mapped the bus routes with the highest number of violations. These routes were targeted for intensive enforcement-an effort that received a great deal of media attention.

Video Surveillance

Tsai also reports, "We took one of the video cameras used to monitor discipline inside the bus, mounted it on the outside of a bus underneath the stop arm, and combined it with sensors that show when the amber lights go on, when the red lights go on, and when the bus stops. This system showed us that the bus was being illegally passed two or three times every day. That got law enforcement's attention." In addition to dem-onstrating the seriousness of this problem to law enforcement officers, the camera provided compelling evidence against drivers caught on film. Jeff Smith, school transportation director for Onslow County, explains, "The camera records the people passing the bus. It records when the amber lights come on and when the red lights come on. It notes the date and time and how fast the bus is going. When the drivers turn in a violation, I can make sure the bus is stopped and that the red lights are flashing. I report this to the highway patrol, and they cite the driver. If drivers claim that they weren't using their cars on that day, they get called down to the highway patrol office to view the film. Most of those who are captured on videotape plead guilty without going to court."

Operation Safe Stop

Northern states are also involved in this issue. New York State's Oper-ation Safe Stop is an annual enforcement day involving all 62 New York counties and more than 250 police departments each fall. Program Coordinator Bob Peters reports that the 1998 event "made almost every TV station in the state." Local coordinators encouraged reporters to conduct "ride-alongs" on school buses or with police officers involved in the enforcement effort. In 1998, almost 1,600 illegal passing tickets and more than 1,700 citations for other violations were given out. In addition to the fall event, Operation Safe Stop conducts public education throughout the year and a "media blitz" in the spring.

Further information on school bus passing programs, including the NHTSA demonstration projects in North Carolina and Florida, can be obtained from Diane Wigle, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, NTS-15, Room 5130, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 266-4301; e-mail: diane.wigle@nhtsa. dot.gov.

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