At the 2025 National School Transportation Association (NSTA) Annual Meeting and Convention held in Boston, Massachusetts, today the national association representing state directors of pupil transportation released the results of its 13th survey on illegal passing of stopped school buses.
In 36 states and the District of Columbia, approximately 31% of the nation’s school bus drivers participated in a one-day survey to report motorists who passed their stopped school buses for the 2024-2025 school year.
“There were 114,239 drivers who reported 67,258 vehicles illegally passed their stopped school buses on a single day,” NASDPTS Executive Director Ronna Weber announced at the convention.
When adjusted to represent 100% of school bus drivers nationwide, and based on data NASDPTS has tracked since 2022, the association estimates there would have been just over 218,000 illegal passings in a single day.
When you project that out of 180 days to represent the school year, that’s 39.3 million violations per year.
School Bus Violations Down, Danger Far From Over
Projected violations for the 2023-2024 school year were 45.2 million, which shows a decrease of 5.9 million "We recognize for the first time we have seen a reduction in illegal passings, but we also note the problem is far from resolved," NASDPTS wrote in a statement.
Due to the non-scientific nature of the survey, NASDPTS is not able to determine the specific reason for the reduction.
"This is the first time we have seen a reduction, and a lot of people have asked within [us] why," Weber said. "We honestly can't tell you. It's good news, but we're not there yet."
“The illegal passing of stopped school buses continues to be the greatest safety danger to children,” said NASDPTS President Mike Stier. “Regardless of the number, 39.3 million violations is simply too many.”
Stier encourages each state to continue raising awareness on this safety issue and to do “everything possible” to ensure motorists put the safety of school children first.
About the Survey
NASDPTS’ survey on the illegal passing of stopped school buses has been conducted annually since 2011, except 2020 and 2021, when the survey was not conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting school closures across the U.S.
The survey results have brought greater attention to state and federal policymakers of the need for greater safety countermeasures. In recent years, several states have increased penalties for violations, authorized the use of photo evidence for issuing citations, or enacted other measures designed to deter this dangerous practice.
