ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) announced the winners of its 2010 School Bus Safety Bumper Sticker contest.

To participate in the contest, which is in its third year, elementary school students must design a bumper sticker that carries the words "STOP 4 THE BUS" and depicts the requirement to stop for school buses that have their red lights flashing.

This year's contest attracted more than 200 entries from across the state of New York and the winners are:

FIRST PRIZE: Christen Lapple, Longwood Central School District

SECOND PRIZE: Melanie Robinson, Liberty Central School District

THIRD PRIZE: Melissa Goldstein, Longwood Central School District

Each winner will receive a cash prize and a certificate. Criteria for selection include originality, color and scheme, accuracy, and visual quality.

The contest is supported by a grant from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee using funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to combat the ongoing and increasingly dangerous problem of illegal passing of school buses. The funds are provided to NYAPT to develop educational materials about the problem of illegal passing and to coordinate the annual Operation Safe Stop Day in partnership with state and local police agencies.

Each year on Operation Safe Stop Day, more than 1,500 illegal passing violations are written by the police at stops designated by school transportation officials as particularly dangerous. Industry professionals estimate that motorists illegally pass stopped school buses in New York State some 50,000 times each day.