This Year's Theme is "I See the Driver – The Driver Sees Me"

The American School Bus Council celebrated the 40th anniversary of School Bus Safety Week this past October 15-21, 2006. School bus safety awareness and education activities were scheduled throughout school districts across the country.

School Bus Safety Week is celebrated annually during the third week of October, and encourages awareness on local and state levels through such activities as poster and speech contests, distribution of school bus safety community awareness toolkits, and more.

Each year, transportation officials choose from all 50 state's winning poster contest entries to select the national theme for School Bus Safety Week.

School Bus Safety Week 2006's theme is I See the Driver – The Driver Sees Me

The theme is targeted towards young students, encouraging them to obey school bus safety rules while waiting at the bus stop and while getting on and off the school bus each day.

The theme also highlights the importance of school bus driver training.

"School bus transportation is the safest form of ground transportation available," said Lenny Bernstein, President of the National Association for Pupil Transportation, "And 80 times safer than traveling to school in a family vehicle. However, occasional accidents still happen."

To the millions of American parents who entrust their children to a yellow school bus, and those who work in the school bus industry, and, no injury or fatality is tolerable.

In July of 2006, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 498, which honors the goals and ideas of School Bus Safety Week, by a vote of 418-0.

Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-Tenn.), sponsor of the resolution, said, "School bus safety is an ongoing concern among legislators, school districts and parents nationwide. By passing legislation to support goals for School Bus Safety Week, we are encouraging individuals and communities around the country to proactively educate and promote initiatives to ensure the safety of the Nation's school children as they ride to and from school each day."

"More than 25 million of the nation's children are transported daily to and from school on yellow school buses," added John Corr, president of the National School Transportation Association. "Ensuring their safety is a top priority, and the Council will continue to work with local and state legislators to establish federal funding to support school bus safety initiatives."

"Promoting the importance of school bus safety to parents, educators and children is a top priority of the Council," commented Pete Japikse, president of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation. "As the unified voice of the school bus industry, the Council will continue to support the efforts of School Bus Safety Week to increase the value and benefit of school bus safety education and prevention."

The Council suggests the following recommendations for school bus riders:

• Be aware of traffic. Look both ways for moving vehicles before stepping off the bus.

• Before crossing the street, make eye contact with the bus driver, and wait for his or her signal before crossing the street.

• When crossing the street, always walk in front of the bus, never walk behind it.

• Stay in a safe place, away from the street, while waiting for the bus.

• Look for the flashing red lights of the bus before leaving the sidewalk.

• Never climb below the bus to retrieve something you've dropped.

From birth through adulthood, Lowest Price Traffic School believes in making safety a priority. Over the past ten years, we've provided traffic school courses, Florida learners permit classes, and other driver education resources to over two million customers nationwide.

View Full Post posted by National Safety Commission : 10:44 AM