Ohio Celebrates Passage of
School Bus Safety Week Resolution

House Resolution 498 honors the goals and ideals of School Bus Safety Week

WASHINTON, DC (August 7, 2006) - The entire Ohio school transportation industry celebrates the passage of House Resolution 498, which honors the goals and ideals of School Bus Safety Week. The Resolution, which passed Congress on July 18 by a vote of 424-0, was supported by every Member of the Ohio Congressional Delegation. This year is the 40 th Anniversary of School Bus Safety Week.

Three of the Resolution's 63 co-sponsors included Ohio Representatives Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Tim Ryan and Ted Strickland.

"This Resolution highlights that the safe transportation of our nation's school children is a top priority. It thanks the industry for a job well done," stated Congresswoman Jones.

"School bus transportation is amazingly safe. Transportation in a school bus is eight times safer than travel in the family car. This industry should be recognized for its daily efforts to protect our children," added Congressman Ryan.

Congressman Ted Strickland noted, "Safety is of paramount concern and the yellow school bus industry has done a remarkable job in ensuring that our children are protected each and every day."

The importance of pupil safety in school transportation is of the utmost concern to all the participants in this industry. The initiative for this Resolution came from a united group of stakeholders representing public school districts, state and local government leaders, private contractors providing school bus service, and school bus manufacturers.

"As good as our safety record might be," said Pete Japikse, president of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation and Director of Pupil Transportation for the Ohio Department of Education. "When it comes to the safety of our children zero tolerance is the expectation. The importance of school bus safety, education and training cannot be emphasized enough."

Terry Thomas, president of Community Bus Services, a bus service provider in Columbus and Youngstown shares that, "Safety in school transportation is our foremost objective. This universal recognition and honoring of School Bus Safety Week is a key sign of the common interest that all members of the school transportation industry share."

Honored every third week in October, School Bus Safety Week is celebrated in more than 40 states, including Ohio , and sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) each year. The week was created to remind all students the best ways to get on and off the bus in an effort to enhance their safety.

The nation's approximately 480,000 yellow school buses carry 25 million children to and from school every weekday. School buses comprises the country's largest mass transportation fleet, 2.5 times greater than all other forms of mass transportation - transit, intercity buses, commercial airlines and rail - combined.