Industry groups denounce Nissan’s ‘school bus race’ ad

A Nissan commercial that shows a father and son racing a yellow bus to school has sparked a backlash from some pupil transportation groups.

In the ad, a man driving his son in a Nissan Altima pulls up to a school bus stop just in time to see the driver shut the door and pull away. The father then proceeds to race the bus to school, and the son exults as he steps out of the car just as the bus arrives.

Mike Martin, executive director of the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT), wrote a message to Nissan in which he says that the commercial “sends all the wrong messages to the motoring public, especially to parents whose children use what in reality is America's largest and safest system of mass transportation — school buses.”

Martin refers to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to inform the car manufacturer that “the school bus is considerably safer than riding in the family car, even a Nissan Altima.”

Martin told SBF on Thursday that he had not yet received a response from Nissan. However, his message, also posted on NAPT’s Facebook page, drew more than a dozen comments in support of the association’s stance.

The New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) had a similar reaction to the ad.

“We join NAPT in expressing our outrage over this Nissan commercial,” NYAPT wrote on its Facebook page.

View the Nissan “school bus race” ad below.