The New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) today released the results of a survey taken on January 19, 2017, to measure the incidence of motorists illegally passing stopped school buses. And the results simply cannot be ignored by government leaders, the media and the public.
In the 35 school districts that participated in the survey that day, 878 school bus drivers reported they were passed a total of 727 times, including 88 passes on the passenger (or right) side of the school bus. That represents a marked increase in the number of right side passes reported.
At that rate of passing when applied to over 50,000 school buses in New York State, the total estimated illegal passing rate is 41,401 passes for that day. That same calculation would mean that 5,011 motorists passed school buses on the RIGHT side of the bus that day.
This compares with the December 2016 “Count Day” on which NYAPT estimated that 44,314 motorists passed stopped school buses, including 6,601 ‘right side’ passes. This makes three consecutive months that the survey has topped the 40,000 mark.
NYAPT President, Lori Ann Savino (Jericho Public Schools), noted that “Our school bus safety family is deeply concerned about this persistent child safety problem. We do all we can to protect our children from harm and to get them to school and home every day safely. We only ask that motorists pay attention and follow the law that requires them to STOP for those red lights.”
NYAPT Executive Director, Peter Mannella, noted: “These numbers are of serious concern. We implore parents and our partners in schools and in law enforcement to help us to increase awareness of the rules of the road. We call on the Governor, the state agencies and the State Legislature to recognize this issue as a critical problem we must address together. It’s an easy message: STOP FOR THE SCHOOL BUS! It’s all for the safety of our children!”
