(NBC News) It’s National School Bus Safety Week.
Experts maintain riding a school bus remains the safest way to transport a child to and from school, but they’re still working to keep them even safer.
There’s a push for features including longer stop arms and cameras mounted outside and inside the bus to encourage safe driving by everyone, including school bus drivers.
“School bus drivers should not be texting or talking on their phones,” says National Safety Council President Deborah Hersman. “We want to make sure that those drivers are as safe as they can be and, in fact, almost all school buses have inward facing cameras.”
Still, the larger problem remains other drivers. The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services recently released the results of its fifth annual illegal passing survey. A total of 26 states and 20 percent of the nation’s school bus drivers took part in reporting the total number of motorists who illegally passed their stopped school buses.
More than 102,000 school bus drivers indicated that 78,518 motorists passed their buses in a single day. In the span of a 180-day school year, this can add up to over 14 million violations.
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