HEADLINES
Feds Step Up National Recognition of School Bus Safety Week
While Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood released a state-
ment last month encouraging more students to ride school buses, unbeknownst to most in the school transportation com- munity a new presidential proclamation recognizing the third week of October each year as School Bus Safety Week was mak- ing congressional rounds. Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN) and his staff were working on a resolution
to introduce on the House floor that, if passed, would be signed by President Obama. It could become only the third presidential proclamation on school bus safety and jobs performed by school bus drivers nationwide.
by the American School Bus Council. Te U.S. House passed another resolution in 2006 recognizing
School Bus Safety Week, but Fischer said he saw a need for a new presidential proclamation. Two years ago, he set the wheels in motion by forming his own “National School Bus Safety Week Committee” in addition to but separate from current NAPT, NASDPTS, NSTA or ASBC efforts. An ASBC spokesperson added that the board supports any effort that benifits school buses. Peter Baxter, since retired as Indiana’s state director of student
transportation, solicited former high school classmate Rep. Hill to work up the language. Te school bus industry also received a feather for its cap when
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined NHTSA Admin- istrator David Strickland on Sept. 8 to encourage more students to ride school buses as a “green” and safer alternative to than rid- ing in parents’ cars or with teens. ASBC began lobbying LaHood and his staff earlier this year to issue a similar announcement. Earlier this summer, LaHood sent a letter to congressional rep-
resentatives informing them that $5 million would be allocated from NHTSA’s existing fiscal year funds over the next two years to promote the environmental, educational and safety benefits of yellow buses. LaHood also pushed for more students to bike and walk to
At this writing, a resolution number had yet to be assigned,
according to a spokesperson from Rep. Hill’s office. Te first presidential proclamation, albeit unofficial, came from
President Nixon on April 21, 1969, via a Western Union telegraph addressed to Dick Fischer, then a transportation director in Or- ange County, Calif., recognizing April 21-26 that year as School Bus Safety Week. Te first celebration nationwide took place a year later with the approval of then U.S. Transportation Secretary John A. Volpe. In 1973, the U.S. Senate passed Joint Resolution 43 to authorize and request that President Nixon proclaim School Bus Safety Week for April 23-28 that year. Fischer began his campaign in 1960 to get the public, states
and the federal government to recognize the jobs performed by school bus drivers after a series of local crashes shook the public’s confidence. Since then, several states have passed resolutions, and President Reagan in 1981 proclaimed School Bus Safety for the first full week of October. Te National Highway Traffic Safe- ty Administration and the industry now sets aside the third full week in October as school Bus Safety Week, which is sponsored
school to combat rising rates of childhood obesity. In 1969, the average child in the United States walked or bicycled to and from school and spent many afternoons exploring the neigh- borhood and getting physical activity. Today, only 13 percent of students in the United States walk or bicycle to schools. Mean- while, about half of U.S. student take the yellow bus. “If it’s an option, leave your car, van or SUV parked at home
and let your kids ride the school bus, their bike or walk to school,” said LaHood. “Not only are these options safer, a single school bus can take the place of multiple passenger cars, cutting down on traffic congestion and air pollution, and walking and biking are good choices that improve the health of our kids.” According to NHTSA sources, the feds would like to see more
collaboration between the Safe Routes to School Program and state and local school transportation departments. Te Safe Routes to School National Partnership responded in
its draft strategic plan for 2011-2015 also released last month by stating one of its goals will be to “engage school transporta- tion officials and organizations to broaden their scope beyond school busing to also include Safe Routes to School and to work collaboratively with their state and local Departments of Transportation.” ■
To download a letter that can be addressed to local representatives asking them to support a School Bus Safety Week proclamation, 34 School Transportation News Magazine October 2010
Oct10_STN.indb 34 9/14/10 12:17 PM
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