STOP-ARM SAFETY FORUM
Thinking Outside the Bus to Protect Children
By Daniel Thompson
School buses are largely safe – but until every single child gets to school and back unharmed , we have to keep innovating .
Nearly 15 students die each year in school transportation-related incidents in the U . S ., with about five of those fatalities caused by passing motorists , according to The National Association for Pupil Transportation . Although strides have been made to enhance safety inside the school bus , much can still be done outside the bus — and there ’ s one simple and cost-effective fix . Unlike the gates that prevent motorists from ignoring railroad crossings , the tiny stop signs that barely protrude from the sides of most yellow school buses are not getting other vehicles to stop . In fact , the Federal Department of Transportation estimates that as many as 18 million stopping violations occur yearly . That is why we are working to bring S . A . F . E . GATES to as many buses as we can . The four-foot-long polycarbon stop-arm attaches to the existing stop sign and extends far into the roadway — visible from about a mile away — to deter increasingly distracted motorists from passing . In a pilot program in Alvarado , Texas , S . A . F . E . GATES stoparms were affixed to the four buses that saw the most stop-sign violations . While local officials expected to see 320 illegal passing incidents during the 30-day test , the actual number was only six . “ My drivers that have the S . A . F . E . GATES love them ,” said Terry Wood , operations manager for the Alvarado Independent School District . “ Even though it hasn ’ t completely stopped all runners , we are still at about 95 % reduction , which is huge .” By reducing stop-arm violations by anywhere close to this rate , we can eliminate as many as 14.5 million yearly instances of a child ’ s life being put in danger . Other less-effective methods have been tried . Some districts , for instance , have agreed to put cameras on school buses in order to cite motorists for stop-sign violations . The truth is , though , cameras do
not stop passing vehicles , and the family of a struck child cannot be made whole by a camera that identifies a violator after the fact . We have found that a gate is guaranteed to reduce stop-arm violations and fatalities from happening year after year . The big challenge is that , although S . A . F . E . GATES technology is federally approved to be on every bus in the U . S . ( through the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards ( FMVSS ) 49 CFR 571.131 ), most states have their own regulations , and most districts have their own equipment procurement processes . But there are no restrictions to the geographic need . In fact , the all-weather durability of S . A . F . E . GATES is appealing from the heat of Phoenix to the bitter cold of Canada . “ We too see the huge potential for a product like S . A . F . E GATES , at least in our country , in the very infancy stages ,” said Wayne Ilnisky , sales manager , GL Mobile Communications , the sole distributor of S . A . F . E . GATES in Canada (
wayne @ glmobile . com ). “ This is of interest to the whole student transportation industry .” Ilnisky says customers as well as parents are showing interest in stop-arm safety . We ask school district leaders , school transportation managers , private sector providers of K-12 school transportation services , industry suppliers , and anyone else who is responsible for improving the safety of school buses , to “ think outside the bus .” If we are going to accomplish the Zip . Zero . Nada . None . campaign goal to eliminate school transportation-related fatalities by 2025 , then we need to get creative . Achieving this ambitious milestone means we must change the behavior of motorists and enhance the safety of what is going on outside the bus . This technology provides an opportunity to save lives .
Daniel Thompson (
Thomps27 @ comcast . net ) is the founder of S . A . F . E . GATES , created out of necessity to save the lives of the most precious cargo transported today . As a former state school bus program director , he is well versed on the industry and its regulations . To view product pricing , pictures , and videos , visit
www . SAFEGATES . NET .
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