Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Bus Safety is Everybody’s Business
National School Bus Safety Week is Oct. 15-21
JEFFERSON CITY–Each weekday in Missouri, about 10,000 yellow school buses roll across the streets and highways of nearly every community, transporting more than 550,000 children to and from public schools.
School districts operate Missouri’s largest mass-transit system, and school buses will rack up more than 125 million miles on the road during the current school year.
To emphasize the importance of keeping all bus-riders safe throughout the year, Gov. Matt Blunt is joining with state education officials in calling on Missourians to observe National School Bus Safety Week, October 15-21.
“School buses offer the safest form of transportation on the road for our children. Although a serious accident can happen at any time, bus accidents are rare, and our school transportation system has a remarkably good safety record. It is everybody’s business to help maintain that record,” Blunt said.
Last year, following a series of bus accidents in the state, Blunt appointed the School Bus Safety Task Force. Headed by Mark James, director of the Department of Public Safety, the task force conducted the first-ever comprehensive review of bus safety and made recommendations to improve training, staffing and equipment.
During School Bus Safety Week, school districts throughout the state will conduct bus evacuation drills with students and provide safety tips to students, parents and the general public. School officials will remind students about their responsibility to behave properly and safely when they are on or near a bus.
“National School Bus Safety is simply a reminder of the safety awareness that students, bus drivers and other motorists need to maintain every day in order to keep our children safe,” Blunt said.
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