While public awareness campaigns about illegally passing stopped school buses increase nationwide, the National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey finds that school buses and their drivers accounted for all the student fatalities reported for the 2024-2025 school year.

The 2024-2025 National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey, released Sunday at the National State Director of Pupil Transportation Services conferences in Washington, D.C., reported that six fatalities occurred in five states, with Louisiana reporting two. Four states did not participate in the survey, the most non-responses since 2015.

Over 55 years, the annual survey conducted by the Kansas State Department of Education’s School Transportation Safety Unit says school buses account for 56.5 percent of all reported fatalities, with other vehicles accounting for 39.2 percent and “other” 4.2 percent.

Several fatalities during the 2024-2025 school year occurred similarly. In Missouri, a 9-year-old girl had just exited her school bus. As the bus pulled away from the curb and began preparing to turn left, the student ran along the left side of the bus for unknown reasons. She was struck and killed by the rear left wheels.

Find All National School Bus Loading and Unloading Surveys Since 1970

A similar situation occurred in Wisconsin. A 5-year-old boy had unloaded the school bus at school. However, the student had dropped an item and crawled under the bus to retrieve it as the school bus driver pulled away. The student was struck and killed by the left rear dual wheels.

A 5-year-old Massachusetts boy unloaded from the school bus when the vehicle moved forward, and it struck and killed the child. The boy was killed by the left front wheel.

In Louisiana, a 7-year-old exited the school bus and was walking in front of it as the driver pulled away from the stop. He was struck and killed by the right front and right rear dual wheels of the bus.

Also in Louisiana, a 6-year-old boy was running to catch the school bus. He was in front of the bus as it pulled away from the stop, and he was struck and killed by the front of the school bus.

Similarly, in Texas, a 5-year-old was running to catch the bus. He, too, was in front of the bus as it pulled away from the stop. He was then struck and killed by the left front wheels.

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Half of the fatalities took place on the trip to school, the other half on the trip home. All the students killed were under 10 years old. Three were 5 years old. The National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey stated that during the past 55 years of the survey, 73 percent of fatalities occurred to students 9 years of age and under.

Three of the fatalities took place on a Thursday, and two took place in the month of April. For five of the fatalities, the weather conditions were clear and in daylight, with one being reported during cloudy conditions and one during dark. Two fatalities were reported in rural areas, whereas four were considered urban. In all fatalities, road conditions were dry.

The survey is based on police reports of student fatalities at school bus stops when the bus was on scene at the time of the incident.

The post 6 Students Killed in Danger Zone, All by School Buses appeared first on School Transportation News.

Introduced last month, the bipartisan Brake for Kids Act hopes to create a public service announcement on the dangers of illegally passing a stopped school bus.

Introduced on Sept. 16 by Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Gary Peters of Michigan, it directs the “Secretary of Transportation to carry out a national public safety messaging campaign relating to the dangers of illegal passing of stopped school buses, and for other purposes.”

The PSA campaign would need to be released and distributed no later than one year after the enactment. It would include television advertisements on national broadcasts as well as radio, social media and other messaging.

Both senators have been involved in trying to prevent illegal school bus crossings, introducing the Stop for School Buses Act in 2019 and 2021.

“Every school year, far too many illegal school bus passings occur, which puts the lives of students at risk. Our bill will raise awareness about the dangers of passing a stopped school bus to help ensure that our kids make it to and from school safely,” said Young in a press release.

U.S. Reps. Rudy Yakym, Pete Stauber, Seth Moulton and Julia Brownley introduced companion legislation in the House.

“Parents need to know their kids are safe taking the bus to and from school,” Peters said in a release. “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 promote best practices for making our communities safer.”

Meanwhile, the National School Transportation Association released a statement applauding the introduction of the legislation. “The Brake for Kids Act is an essential step to help protect students and alleviate preventable tragedies,” said Patrick Dean, NSTA president. “Illegal school bus passings are a national crisis, and this legislation provides a platform for student transportation to raise awareness, change behavior, and prevent these all-too-frequent incidents.”

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NSTA cited the 2025 National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services survey released this summer, noting that more than 114,000 school bus drivers across the U.S. reported 67,258 violations in a single day. While lower than in years past, NASDPTS extrapolated that motorists nationwide still illegally pass school buses tens of millions of times during the school year.

“NSTA believes that a nationwide safety campaign will close knowledge gaps, strengthen driver education, and save lives,” the press release adds.

The post Federal Bill Aims to Increase Awareness of Illegal School Bus Passing appeared first on School Transportation News.

Nevada became the 26th state to authorize school districts to install and use school bus stop-arm cameras.

Assembly Bill 527, which passed June 6 and went into effect on July 1, allows school districts to install the cameras and for law enforcement to use evidence of illegal passing to issue citations to the vehicle’s registered owner. Fines collected are used to fund the installation, maintenance and operation of the camera systems as well as pay the vendor to install, operate or maintain the systems.

School districts that choose to vieo cameras must conduct a public awareness campaign regarding the use of cameras and notify the public on when enforcement starts.

While school district leaders applaud the law, local police departments are questioning if they have adequate staffing to handle review video and issue citations, as noted in a local news article.

The law also addresses privacy concerns by requiring school districts and police departments to delete images of vehicles after 90 days.

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