partnering to reduce risks of crashes. Te 2009 Teen Driver Study Commission in New Jersey recom-
mended that educators and law enforcement officials implement an agreement requiring local police departments to notify school administrators when teens violate GDL or are cited for moving vio- lations. Te Commission suggested school boards adopt a policy to remove school parking privileges when students violate GDL and other traffic laws. If a teen driver were to lose his or her parking pass, they might need to ride the school bus — a mode of trans- portation many teens would prefer to avoid. While implementing a parking pass policy, district administrators could have another opportunity to stress the importance of keeping teens safe. Parents and school district leaders know that at some age, rid-
ing the bus to and from school becomes unappealing to many teens. School districts could explore how to market school bus transportation so it is more appealing. Teens driving to school or riding with teen drivers are 44 times more likely to be fatally injured than in a school bus, yet many teens and parents don’t consider that safety benefit when determining how teens get to and from school. Teens who ride the school bus can socialize with friends without the risk of distraction, talk on cell phones, send and read text messages, play games, post status updates and read emails.
Convincing some
teens of the benefits of school bus trans- portation could be a longer
process than
implementing a park- ing pass policy, but both could be ef- fective if properly executed. NSC en- courages all districts to do as much as they can to protect teen drivers by un- derstanding the risks they face and the educators’ role in changing behaviors. Everyone in the student transportation industry wants to keep
students safe, and NSC is dedicated to creating a culture of teen safe driving. It will take everyone’s cooperation, but our diligent action can save thousands of lives. ■
John Ulczycki is the group vice president of strategic initiatives at the National Safety Council.
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