-  Photo Courtesy of Safe Fleet

Photo Courtesy of Safe Fleet

Student death and injury attributed to illegal school bus passing has been a constant risk for children, and a persistent fear for parents and school administrators for decades. Over 17 million stop-arm violations happen each year in the US. That is almost 95,000 instances a day where a student might be struck by a vehicle.

This issue has challenged the school transportation industry for a long time. But with new advancements in technology, we are making great leaps in reducing risk in the Danger Zone today and envisioning a day when it becomes a non-issue. Wirelessly exchanging speed and position data between vehicles in vehicle-to-vehicle communication will prevent 615,000 collisions in the near future[1].

But how many students are we going to lose if we sit and wait for the future to arrive? In 2018, on a single day in Indiana, THREE kids were fatally struck while trying to cross the street to their bus[2]. A totally preventable tragedy.

The Illegal Passing Suite

There is one answer to the illegal passing epidemic - the Safe Fleet Illegal Passing Suite. A comprehensive approach to the problem that provides a COMPLETE way to lessen the high-risk scenario students have to go through every day - TWICE.

It involves three steps:

Step 1: Heighten visibility that the school bus is stopping or stopped

Working with our Hi-Visibility Stop Arm, The Driver Alert Device notifies drivers behind the bus that the bus is about to stop. Located on the back door of the bus, this LED panel flashes up the words “Caution – Stopping” when the bus slows down and bus amber, 8-way lights are activated. The Driver Alert flashes the words “Stop Do Not Pass” when bus red lights are activated and the Stop Arm is deployed.  These clear, written messages tell drivers exactly what they need to do.

Get driver's attention at the bus stop with the Hi-Visibility Stop Arm. Using a highly reflective decal and the word “STOP” brightly backlit with LED’s, the arm deploys and lets drivers know that the bus is at a stop, and they should too.

Step 2: Proactively warn students of imminent danger

This Safe Fleet game-changing solution the Predictive Stop Arm™ (PSA) uses radar and predictive analytic technology to scan 3 lanes / 1,000 ft in both directions to determine if a vehicle will stop in time.  If not, the PSA shouts via spoken word “STOP, GET BACK” giving students a precious 3-4 seconds to “step back” from danger.

Step 3: Help enforce proper driver behavior

Capture violations as they occur. The Safe Fleet Stop Arm Camera captures HD video of illegal pass-bys and enables law enforcement ticketing. By injecting effective accountability into the equation, this solution makes drivers think twice before running by a stopped school bus.

Together these steps tackle the issue by enhancing visibility, and by being proactive and enforcement-driven.

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An all-in-one, government-supported tool to prevent Danger Zone injury

More and more mandates are being implemented in states across the US, requiring school bus fleets to install technology to mitigate risk and better protect students in the Danger Zone.

Its thoroughness and effectiveness make the Illegal Passing Suite unlike any offering available. School Districts can use single solutions such as Stop Arms or driver alert devices, but by putting these technologies alongside the field-proven PSA, we create a safety umbrella over the school bus Danger Zone to help reduce the risk of injury or fatality.

Safe Fleet gets you the whole package. The Illegal Passing Suite provides the three pieces of the puzzle that nobody else has and are needed to make sure you are effectively mitigating the school bus Danger Zone, saving students’ lives, and complying with legislators.

A comprehensive and scalable solution by Safe Fleet

Safe Fleet stop arms, crossing arms, driver alerts and Predictive Stop arm technology have proven to reduce injuries and fatalities across the US.  But by implementing them together on every school bus we can truly make crossing to and from the school bus stop safer and move towards zero fatalities.

And not only is the Safe Fleet Illegal Passing Suite an end-to-end, complete solution, it also integrates with the systems you already have on your fleet. If you’ve got cameras and recorders, when a stop arm violation happens the footage can be automatically captured. If you’ve got front and rear facing cameras or a 360-view camera system, the footage integrates with the suite to give you a complete view of the event. And if you’ve got a Wi-Fi connected bus, the footage can be downloaded once the bus returns to Wi-Fi coverage.

All these systems are easily integrated with the Illegal Passing Suite. If you are missing any of them, Safe Fleet can help. Sourcing all systems from Safe Fleet, ensures you get a comprehensive, complete tech ecosystem on your school bus.

Safe Fleet has you covered. Our decades of expertise in safety and productivity solutions give you a one-stop partner and provider to fight the illegal passing epidemic.

We must reduce the risks in the school bus Danger Zone––TODAY. The Illegal Passing Suite is the approach our children need right now to make back-to-school safer.