Survey delves into stop-arm violations

SAN ANTONIO — Industry veteran Dr. Ray Turner is asking for input from transportation directors and supervisors on the problem of motorists passing stopped school buses.

Turner, who is president of White Buffalo Press and a former pupil transportation administrator, said that results of his survey will be shared with participants and used to develop a bus driver training program.

The survey is for transportation directors and supervisors who have heard from their school bus drivers about various stop-arm violations during the 2010-11 and 2009-10 school years.

“I want to know how your student pedestrians are brought into ‘harm’s way,’ and the countermeasures that may be useful for drivers and their supervisors to implement to avoid these repeated dangers,” Turner said. “This survey is the result of three years of study to resolve the bus stop dangers motorists impose on student pedestrians before they cross the street to board their bus or after they have left their bus.”

The survey is estimated to take a maximum of one hour to complete. Turner said that it has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Texas at San Antonio to be done by his own funding and as a part of his postdoctoral study.

Participants are offered a free digital copy of one of Turner’s special-needs transportation textbooks.

After the survey is finished, Turner will issue a report on the results to participants who request it. He said that he will also use the results to finalize his “National Curriculum to Prevent or Reduce Stop Arm Violations” training program for school bus drivers.

To access the survey, click here. For more information, contact Turner at drturner@earthlink.net or (210) 614-1395.