Research Pays Off: Reducing the Illegal Passing of School Buses: Video Footage Assists in Documentation, Training, and Raising Public Awareness

While the school bus has been determined to be the safest mode of school transportation in the United States, the nation still experiences an average of 20 school bus-related fatalities per year. One-third of these fatalities occur when motorists illegally pass a stopped school bus, ignoring the flashing red warning lights and the deployed stop-sign arm. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at North Carolina State University conducted a study to find ways to reduce the illegal passing of stopped school buses. In Onslow County, a high level of collaboration among agencies--plus the use of external, bus-mounted video cameras--led to notable success. During the 18-month project, stop arm violations in Onslow County declined from 22.6 to 7.6 per day, a 67% reduction. Other school districts have had similar success using video cameras to document school bus stop arm violations.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/trnews/trnews237rpo.pdf
• 
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07386826
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Tsai, Jeffrey C
  • Graham, Derek
• Publication Date: 2005-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: pp 28-30
• Serial:
  • TR News
  • Issue Number: 237
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0738-6826

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Fatalities; Passing; School buses; Traffic violations; Video cameras
• Geographic Terms: Onslow County (North Carolina)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01000625
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jun 1 2005 4:50PM