A motorist is late for work and, in a rush, passes a stopped school bus loading children. By doing so, this person is putting children’s lives in danger. Community and political leaders have become increasingly concerned about this issue, and state legislation is addressing the running of school bus stop arms.
An online survey of 2,000 parents and caretakers also indicates increasing concern with their children’s commutes to and from school. In fact, 43 percent said they have observed a “near miss” in a school zone, with one-third saying they saw motorists nearly hit students at school bus stops with the stop-arm extended. Eighty-two percent of those parents said they support safety cameras to monitor and penalize illegal passers. The results come from a survey conducted last year by Verra Mobility.
Educating the public on the importance of school bus safety is an essential goal for Ward Leber, the founder and chairman of the Child Safety Network (CSN), who has worked with the U.S. Senate over the past dozen years to recognize National School Bus Safety Month in September.
Leber said research indicates some motorists who pass stopped buses are just not paying attention. Other people don’t know the dangers present when children are boarding and exiting buses. Even worse, as a survey conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration uncovered, many motorists say they don’t care about school buses.
“We are working on a campaign to increase awareness of school bus safety,” Leber added. The football themed “Know When It’s Safe to Pass” PSA is authorized by the Senate resolution and is expected to be released this month to coincide with the Super Bowl. Ward said CSN is working with several well-known professional athletes to create messages to promote the idea that quarterbacks must make correct decisions, especially when the big game is on the line. But illegally passing a stopped school bus is more than a bad mistake. It endangers the lives of children. Leber said he believes motorists must make the right call behind the wheel when they approach school bus stops. And that is to always stop and remain stopped until the flashing red lights and stop arm deactivate.
The CSN campaign also provides free resources that explain in plain language with visuals when it is safe and lawful to pass school buses in either direction. And it seeks to improve how school bus safety is covered on not only state-administered driving tests but internationally as well. Leber said information must be updated to reflect real-world driving situations.
“We intend to ask the U.S. State Department to require basic instruction on school-bus laws for visitors who will be driving in the U.S., and to encourage rental car companies to voluntarily provide school-bus safety information, authored by CSN, particularly to international renters and especially during back-to-school periods,” he added. “This is about removing ignorance as an excuse before it becomes a tragedy.”
The Michigan Association for Pupil Transportation is working on this issue and has supported state legislation to increase fines for people who run red lights at stopped school buses. Fines for passing a stopped bus can reach $500.
Katrina Morris, executive director of MAPT, said efforts are underway to educate drivers about the importance of stopping when they see a school bus stop arm through fun, informative PSAs.
She worked last fall with Ryan Preece, a professional NASCAR driver on team RFK Racing owned by Jack Roush, founder of ROUSH Enterprises and the ROUSH CleanTech division, to make a public service announcement on the importance of not passing stopped school buses. As a race car driver, Preece likes to go fast and not stop, the PSA says. It shows him not stopping for a tire change at a pit stop and not stopping for a drink at a roadside lemonade stand, but even he has time to stop when the reds are flashing for a school bus.
Lomas Brown, a retired offensive lineman for the NFL’s Detroit Lions, is currently working with Morris and MAPT to create a similar ad. It states, “When the reds are flashing, there is no passing.”
Morris said MAPT also plans to work with Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan to support legislation he introduced last year with Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, the Brakes for Kids Act, a campaign to increase public awareness of the dangers of illegally passing a stopped school bus. Peters also co-introduced the School Bus Safety Month proclamation led by CSN and Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska.
“Parents need to know their kids are safe taking the bus to and from school,” said Peters in a statement. “That’s why I’m proud to help lead this bipartisan, commonsense legislation to raise awareness of the dangers of illegally passing school buses and promoting best practices for making our communities safer.”
The Ohio Association of Pupil Transportation is encouraging drivers to stop when they see a school bus with its stop arm out. An important goal is to educate the public about the importance of caring for children. OAPT developed a new safety program and has been working alongside MAPT and its Reece PSA to encourage people not to pass stopped school buses.
The association also promoted legislation to raise fines for people who are caught passing stopped school buses with stop arms out. Ohio school buses are equipped with cameras that capture images of drivers passing stopped school buses, and the photos can be used to issue tickets. The state is providing more grant money that school districts can apply for to purchase cameras.
“We have School Bus Safety Week and have encouraged public school districts to promote bus safety,” said Todd Silverthorn, executive director of OAPT. “We are using social media to get the message across that drivers should not pass stopped school buses.
As part of the new school bus safety grant initiative, a campaign has been launched to promote school bus safety. More efforts are being made to involve law enforcement. Thomas Built Buses has created a campaign that says, “If you pass, you’re an ass,” Silverthorn said.
Meanwhile, the one-day annual survey conducted by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services reported 67,000 violations observed by 114,000 participating school bus drivers last year. It lead NASDPTS to estimate that millions of incidents occur nationwide each school year and put children at significant risk for injury or death.
Reach Out and Stop Someone
Another measure to reduce stop-arm running is by installing extended stop arms. Child Safety Network’s Ward Leber has worked to create a partnership with one of these providers, BusGates. An important goal of this partnership is to end the millions of illegal school bus passings each year.
BusGates and CSN have developed an LED-lit, stoparm extension that attaches to the stop arm already installed on the school bus. To date, about 5,000 have been installed on school buses in 26 states. When the bus comes to a stop, the extension swings out nearly five feet from the side of the bus, reinforcinga visual and physical barrier that a motorist cannot miss.
This extended stop arm acts like a railroad crossing gate, forcing drivers to stop in advance of the bus, before a violation or resulting collision can occur. Field tests from school districts using BusGates have been promising, with some seeing their daily illegal passing incidents drop from many to zero after the extensions were installed, explained Leber.
“No parent should have to fear for their child’s life at the bus stop. The numbers are staggering, tens of millions of violations each year, and each one is a child’s close call or worse. By partnering with Children Safety Network, BusGates is taking action to ensure every driver gets the message that when a school bus stops, we must all stop,” he added.
Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the February 2026 issue of School Transportation News.
Related: (STN Podcast E290) Ideas, People & Solutions: Three-Pronged Approach to ‘Danger Zone’ Safety
Related: WATCH: Michigan Association Releases Illegal Passing PSA for School Bus Safety Week
Related: WATCH: West Virginia Releases Illegal Passing Awareness Video
Related: Michigan Association Films Illegal School Bus Passing PSA with NASCAR’s Preece
The post Getting the Word Out appeared first on School Transportation News.
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