WASHINGTON D.C./ TOLEDO, Ohio — The heart-warming story of Andrew Gardner, Director of Marketing at Gardian Angel, LLC is now selected, archived, and preserved as a piece of American history. Andrew’s story of the popular school bus lighting system, Gardian Angel, is now part of the digital time capsule at the National Museum of American History on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C.
View story here at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/stories-of-2020/story/andrew%E2%80%99s-achievements
Andrew’s Achievements is one of the “Stories of 2020” which were collected to document how ordinary people are coping with change and making history in both big and small ways during an unprecedented year. The history record documents that even during the nation’s darkest times there is still light.
The story explains the humble beginnings of the birth of the Gardian Angel school bus lighting system created by former school bus mechanic, Steve Gardner, and their endeavors getting state approvals after initially being rejected by state school bus committees and transportation directors. The story goes on to discuss the growth of the company and its popularity among the Nation as a solution to prevent the nationwide issue of illegal passing which is still prevalent today.
Andrew’s story takes a unique turn with the fatal Rochester, Indiana school bus crash. He provided the National Transportation Safety Board with mountains of evidence which aided the Federal investigation. After years of hard work Steve and Andrew Gardner are honored for their evidence and their school bus safety technology earned the recognition and four reports to a federal investigation. Gardian Angel is privileged to be named in these NTSB documents which include the final report and yet another specifically named after this amazing technology for pedestrians. Some of the final recommendations include Andrew’s efforts. The final recommendations are now in multiple forms of legislation, most notably H.R. 2 the Moving Forward Act. H.R. 2 was passed by the U.S. House and currently sits in the U.S. Senate. This story shows the strength not just of the company or lighting system, but the strength in a family who supports each other and who truly bleeds yellow.
The legacy of the Gardian Angel school bus lighting system reaches far beyond the scope of the school bus industry, but leads generations to come to see how something so small can be so big through the power of a family’s love.
About Gardian Angel
Gardian Angel is an exterior lighting system that easily attaches to a school bus that delivers the most advanced technologies to combat stop arm violations, and minimizes the public safety risks to student riders. This approved option also raises the bar for the current state construction standards and exceeds the current federal standards. The equipment helps reduce the rates of illegally passing incidents, helps drivers see better in the dark, decreases the unloading and loading zone injuries or fatalities, and helps prevent collisions and school bus accidents.
With the Gardian Angel, drivers can clearly see the students in darkness. The pedestrians have a lit path walking towards the bus. Traffic in front of the bus and behind it can clearly see pedestrians walking towards the school bus in darkness. This is all possible because of the 1,000-lumen white LED flood light that shines out the side of the front of the bus. The unit is aimed at the ground and automatically turns on when the red lights are activated, then turns off when the bus entrance door is closed.
Gardian Angel, LLC reminds customers to check with state requirements for specific mounting locations, since they may vary. School districts in the following 23 states (AK, AR, AZ, CO, DE, IA, ID, IL, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NV, NY, OH, TX, VT, WI, WV, WY) may purchase Gardian Angel’s for their fleet at https://www.gardianangelllc.com.
