Iredell-Statesville Schools School & Family Magazine Summer 2017 | Page 8

Extended Stop Arms on
Buses Come to I-SS
Big yellow school buses are hard to miss...for most people. Thousands of people illegally pass stopped
school buses every day and in the United States, this amounts to 10 million stop arm violations annually.
Last year, during the regularly scheduled “stop arm violation count day” Iredell-Statesville Schools’ bus
drivers reported 16 stop arm violations. This year’s count reported 27 violations. This is an alarming
increase in drivers simply not paying attention to the “STOP” arm on a school bus, indicating a child may be
crossing a street to board a bus.
The Extended Stop Arm was invented to eliminate stop arm violations. The frame is attached to the
existing stop arm of a school bus, increasing the arm to a distance of 6.5 feet from the side of the bus.
This new stop arm was piloted in 2015 in nine North Carolina counties and accidents involving stop arms
decreased in the range of 50 to 90%. Ten buses within I-SS have recently been upfitted with this additional
safety feature that is designed to protect our children.
School bus drivers are among the most important people in Iredell-Statesville Schools. Their role is
to keep children safe as they travel to and from school. Navigating country roads, neighborhoods and
busy city streets, they must be mindful of traffic around them and in addition, keep a watchful eye on the
precious cargo they are transporting. Please remember when you are driving that not stopping for a school
bus with the Stop Arm extended can be a matter of life or death. Watch that Child!!
6 Iredell-Statesville School & Family
Photo Credit: School Bus Fleet