Despite Prevention Efforts, National Stop-Arm Violations Remain Stable

Despite a strong push to increase enforcement and prevention of stop-arm violations, tens of thousands of drivers continue to endanger students by illegally passing school buses every day.

Over the past year there has been an increasing effort to implement exterior cameras and monitoring systems which would allow law-enforcement to effectively enforce stop-arm laws. Yet, the findings from the 2014 annual edition of the nationwide survey of stop-arm running show the rate of violations is staying close to previous results.

Over 97,000 school bus drivers from 29 states participated in this year’s survey, which is coordinated by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS).

This year the drivers recorded a total of 75,966 stop-arm violations during the one day survey, which NASDPTS officials say represents more than 13 million violations throughout the typical 180-day school year.

“We know that students are far safer in school buses, but when they are outside the bus, they are more vulnerable to injury or death,” NASDPTS President Max Christensen said. “There are nearly a half million school buses on the road each day in the United States. This survey captured only a fraction of the violations that bus drivers and traffic officers know all too well are occurring each and every day.”