| Project
Characteristics |
Collaborative
effort
|
| Program
Areas |
| School
Bus Safety |
Type
of Jurisdiction |
| County |
Targeted
Population |
| Motorists |
Jurisdiction
Size |
| 140,000 |
Funding |
Section
402: $2,500
Other: $7,500
(Cumberland County) |
Contact |
Joseph
Callavini
Coord. of Pupil Transp. Svcs.
17 W. Landis
Vineland, NJ 08360
(856) 794-6700 ext.2212
(856) 794-3087 fax
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Digest
Listing
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NEW JERSEY
You Can't Afford to Pass
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
According to the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA), an average of 27 children die in school bus
related traffic crashes each year. Seven of these deaths involve school
bus occupants and twenty involve pedestrians. Approximately one-half of
the pedestrians are between five and seven years old.
Stop-arm violations (the act of illegally
passing a school bus that has the red lights flashing) are relatively
common and considered to be the most dangerous driving behavior.
Fortunately, the numbers of actual fatalities or injuries that result from
this violation are low, however, the potential for tragedy is high. School
bus drivers from across the nation including those in Cumberland County
have complained about this issue for many years.
In response to numerous complaints from bus
drivers, the Transportation Supervisor (from the Vineland Board of
Education) met with a representative from the sheriff’s department and a
school bus driver trainer to determine a plan of action. A survey that
asked drivers to document all illegal passes for a consecutive five days
was developed and distributed to all bus drivers in the county. Thirty
drivers responded documenting a total of 95 illegal passes.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goals and objectives of this project was to:
- Decrease the number of stop-arm violations by motorists;
- Increase driver awareness on the New Jersey School Bus law; and
- Focus on increasing the number of bus drivers who reported
violations.
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Safety Task Force decided on using a
three-pronged approach to address these issues.
- Educate motorists. The Task Force created posters, handouts,
and street signs with information about the law and penalties for
violation. Twenty-five metal road signs with the words, “You can’t
afford to pass this (picture of a school bus) in Cumberland County,”
were placed on roadways throughout the county. In addition, 1000
posters and 10,000 palm cards were distributed.
- Educate bus drivers. In order to get all bus drivers to
report illegal passes, an education program that defined the problem
and addressed the ways in which the task force would address it was
provided to drivers throughout the county. Drivers felt that the
current reporting process was inconvenient and time consuming. A new,
streamlined system allowed drivers to fill out a simple form with all
the pertinent motorist information. The completed form would be
forwarded to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Safety Task Force who
would send a letter to the violator explaining the incident and
resulting legal consequences.
- Increased enforcement. The sheriff’s deputy’s, municipal
police, and state police were asked to be more visible at times when
children were being transported to and from school. Certain areas of
the county, designated by bus drivers as high risk, had additional
enforcement present.
RESULTS
To
date, there has been a 60 percent reduction in stop-arm violations.
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