Senate passes ‘School Bus Safety Month’ resolution

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Senate recently approved a resolution that would designate October as “School Bus Safety Month.”

The resolution, which was requested by the Child Safety Network (CSN), also supports the CSN Safe Bus Campaign. President Obama is expected to sign it.

October is also the longtime home of School Bus Safety Week, which serves to recognize the important work of school bus drivers and to spread awareness of key issues like danger zone safety.

The new Senate resolution specifies October 2013 as School Bus Safety Month, but CSN Founder Ward Leber told SBF that legislators will vote on another School Bus Safety Month resolution next year in September.

This year’s resolution describes the safety record and the size of the nation’s school bus system. The resolution also says that “the adoption of School Bus Safety Month will allow broadcast and digital media and social networking industries to make commitments to disseminate public service announcements designed to save children's lives by making motorists aware of school bus safety issues.”

Another clause, referring to the CSN Safe Bus Campaign, explains that CSN has collaborated with the school bus industry to create public service announcements to reduce distracted driving near school buses, increase ridership and provide free resources to school districts to increase driver training, track school buses and educate students.

The GPS, driver training programs and other elements of the Safe Bus Campaign are corporately sponsored and are free to school districts. Sponsors must receive local school board approval and may not attempt to influence the buying decisions of children.

Leber said that the Senate’s passage of the resolution “emboldens our unique opportunity to connect with the millions of parents who wait each school day for their precious students to arrive. It gives us the opportunity to provide free resources on how parents can help raise safer, healthier children.”