WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has updated its school bus driver in-service training curriculum.

“While school bus transportation remains the safest way for students to get to school, school-transportation-related crashes still occur,” Kristin Rosenthal, highway safety specialist at NHTSA, said in an email sent to U.S. pupil transporters on Friday. “Regular training is important for school bus drivers to stay up to date on the latest industry standards and help them maintain and improve the safety of children in and around the school bus. Together, we can do our part to keep our children safe!”

NHTSA’s update to its School Bus Driver In-Service Curriculum is now completely online, mobile-friendly and free of charge; school bus drivers can complete the curriculum at their own pace anytime, anywhere.

The updated curriculum is also designed to:

•    Incorporate adult learning principles to provide an interactive and engaging experience that helps improve retention of content.
•    Allow the learner to use the curriculum in its entirety or choose modules to supplement existing training and customize learning paths.

Users who are already set up for the training and have an account with the Transportation Safety Institute will need to create a new account due to the updates, Rosenthal noted. Registering here takes the user to a special group that only has access to this specific training.