WISCONSIN SCHOOL BUS ILLEGAL PASSING SURVEY
Wisconsin is participating in the National Stop Arm Violation Count on Wednesday, May 3rd.
Please plan to participate in this important survey that is used to influence legislation regarding safety around the school bus.
Note: Your organization may perform the survey on an alternate date that may work better. The main concern is participation in the survey. The only provision is that it must be done by Friday, May 26.
Since the advent of the survey, NASDPTS has seen state initiatives to improve motorist education about school bus stopping laws. There have also been changes in state legislatures to increase penalties, improve enforcement, and authorize the use of photo evidence to issue citations. The survey data has been instrumental in documenting a continuing need for greater safety countermeasures at the state and national level, including NHTSA's commitment to a targeted national safety campaign. We are requesting your assistance in this important survey.
On MAY 3rd, please have your organization's school bus drivers observe and report any instances of motorists illegally passing their school buses, using the form below Even drivers who have no “pass-by’s” on the day of the survey should turn in the form so that we can gather accurate data on how many pass-by’s occur per day per bus.
School bus drivers should use this DRIVER FORM. (Word) It may be modified as needed.
Please instruct drivers to pay particular attention to the instructions and safety precautions. As always, their primary duty is to the safety of their students. Please have your drivers pay particular attention to the bottom of the form where they are instructed to“report only illegal passes that occur while the bus driver is stopped with red warning lights flashing and stop arm(s) deployed in full compliance with our state training and procedures.”
Drivers would then submit their reports to the Transportation Manager/Supervisor after their routes.
Transportation Manager/Supervisor: Please compile the data using this SUMMARY SPREADSHEET (Excel) and then upload the totals to the ONLINE SURVEY no later than Friday, May 26.
ADDITIONALLY - PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THE SUMMARY WORKSHEET TO
CHERIE HIME AT WSBA.
Thank you for participating in this very important survey.
Contact Cherie Hime, WSBA, with any questions. (608) 514.5470.
Wisconsin Illegal School Bus Passing Increases to 40% from 2019
September 13, 2022
Wisconsin 2022 School Bus Stop Arm Violations Results
Wisconsin continues to experience illegal passing of school buses. The survey results from this year showed an increase from 25% in 2019, to now 40% in 2022. This one-day survey demonstrates the increase of illegal passing each school day. Of the 898 Wisconsin school bus driver reports this year, a total of 365 passes were observed on one day with the majority passing from the front, on the left side This increase of 15% from 2019, is of great concern to the school bus community where the nation’s average passing rate is now 69%.
There is no excuse for endangering children’s lives and immediate action needs to take place to ensure their safety.
The annual school year impact in Wisconsin is 82,800 illegal passes!
The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) conducts this annual survey. Their report for 2022 notes: "In 34 states, over 22% of the nation’s school bus drivers participated in the one-day survey. 79,859 school bus drivers reported that 51,593 vehicles passed their buses illegally on a single day during the 2021-22 school year. Given the lower number of drivers participating this year versus our 2019 survey, we think it is helpful to compare the years. Adjusting for 100% of the school bus drivers in the U.S., we would have seen just over 232,000 illegal passings in both 2019 and 2022. Throughout a 180-day school year, these sample results point to more than 41.8 million violations per year among America’s motoring public.”
“These numbers, when adjusted for 100% of the school bus drivers across the country, show that unfortunately illegal passings of stopped school buses are at an epidemic level. Too often the safety of our nation’s children is put into question simply because motorists are either not paying attention or are in a hurry. This is simply unacceptable,”
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation statistics, school bus transportation is the safest form of transportation over all other modes. Children are 70 times safer going to and from school in a yellow school bus than by walking, biking, being driven by parents in cars, or teens driving themselves.
The stopped yellow school bus that has its red lights flashing means that a child is going to be boarding or departing the bus. WSBA urges motorists to be aware of these situations and stop for the stopped school bus to avoid a potential tragedy we hope no one experiences.
WSBA is requesting the Wisconsin legislature look into revising the fines and penalties associated with illegal passing as so many other states across the country have done. In addition, it is important that the motoring public is educated on the ramifications of illegally passing a stopped school bus.
WSBA will continue to work with law enforcement and communities to reduce the threat of safety these numbers pose to Wisconsin school children.
