U.S. school districts and pupil transportation associations kicked off the annual School Bus Safety Week today with a host of presentations to the public that demonstrate how school buses safely transport children to and from school.

The Washington State Patrol announced results from a statewide school bus inspection held over the course of the past year that utilized RFID technology from Zonar Systems to record data used by personnel to ensure no defects are found. The survey uncovered only two instances where the data upload to a central database failed and required a resubmission, for a 99.98 percent success rate.

For several years now, the Washington State Patrol has used Zonar System’s Electronic Vehicle Inspection Report to scan all of the state’s more than 10,100 school buses. Today, the two were joined by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Seattle to demonstrate to the public and media an example of an outstanding school bus inspection program that keeps more than 500,000 school children who ride these vehicles safe from vehicle defects.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the state department of transportation met with the Pennsylvania School Bus Association, the Pupil Transportation Association of Pennsylvania and the state school business officials organization at the Capitol in Harrisburg to recognize student winners of the state school bus safety poster contest. The national competition will be held in early November in Louisville, Ky., during the NAPT conference.

Numerous public school districts were also getting in on the act with driver celebrations, school bus stop curriculum for students and parents alike and school bus safety demonstrations. The theme this year is “Avoid Harm, Obey the Stop Arm,” which calls attention to motorists to heed the stop arm that extends from all school buses engaged in the loading and unloading of students at stops.

As for the private contractor set, two of the nation’s largest companies were also holding events and releasing safety advisories. In addition to asking motorist to pay attention to stopped school buses, First Student asked all motorists to not use cell phones or other mobile devices while driving and avoid other distractions. National Express Corporation, which operates Durham School Services and Stock Transportation, handed out School Bus Safety Week 2009 pins to all its employees and will be announcing special safety messages all week via the company radio system. The company also reminded drivers to be on the lookout for children at bus stops and those crossing the street.