Below is a customizable press release available for any school district or school bus contractor to utilize to promote their involvement with School Bus Safety Week. Copy/paste the press release below to your hard drive and fill in the data in placeholders [ in red ]. Transfer the release to your letterhead, add the date and your contact information, and distribute it to your local media. This press release were prepared by the American School Bus Council. It is available for local use, it is not copyrighted, and attribution is not required.

The Editors
School Transportation News

For Immediate Release Contact:

[ School District/Contractor ] Celebrates 40th Anniversary of

School Bus Safety Week October 15-21, 2006

This Year's Theme Highlights Pedestrian Safety for Riders Nationwide

[Sub-headline can be tailored to highlight specific local events.]

[ CITY, STATE ] – It's National School Bus Safety Week, and from October 15-21, 2006, [ your company or district ] is joining legislators across [ your state ] and school bus industry officials nationwide to highlight the importance of school bus safety awareness and education.

The theme for School Bus Safety Week 2006, I See the Driver – The Driver Sees Me, emphasizes the importance and benefits of school bus driver training and encourages students across the country to obey school bus safety rules while waiting at the bus stop and getting on and off the school bus each day.

Celebrated the third week of October each year, School Bus Safety Week promotes awareness and education on the local and state level through poster and speech contests, school bus safety community toolkits and events. School districts throughout [ your state ] will be hosting activities for parents, children and bus drivers to highlight the importance of school bus safety both on and off the school bus.

While school bus transportation is the safest form of ground transportation available – and eight times safer than traveling to school in a family vehicle – occasional accidents still happen. [ reference state/district statistics ] Fortunately, [ your company or district ] has not had a serious school bus accident in more than [ xxx ] years.

“Loading and unloading children are the most dangerous aspects of school bus transportation,” said [your school superintendent or company president] . “Too often motorists fail to heed the warning lights and do not stop for the stopped school bus. By celebrating School Bus Safety Week throughout our school district, we have the opportunity to call attention to and to promote a key area of concern with regard to the safety of our children in an effort to prevent future injuries or fatalities.”

The American School Bus Council offers the following tips for school bus riders:

•  Be alert to traffic. Check both ways for cars before stepping off the bus.

•  Make eye contact with the bus driver, and wait for the bus driver's signal before crossing the street.

•  Walk in front of the bus; never walk behind the bus to cross the street.

•  While waiting for the bus, stay in a safe place away from the street.

•  Before leaving the sidewalk, look for the flashing lights.

•  Never go under the bus to retrieve something you've dropped.

Additionally, school bus drivers in each jurisdiction are trained to see the students from different viewing angles and to count the number of students at each stop.

About School Bus Safety Week

School Bus Safety Week – established in 1966 by the National Association of Pupil Transportation, National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services National School Transportation Association and supported by the NHTSA – educates students, parents and the motoring public about the safety of our nation's children who are transported daily on yellow school buses. This week also recognizes the hard work and dedication of school professionals, especially the school bus drivers who ensure a safe journey for our children each and every day.

About [ Your Company or District ]

About American School Bus Council

American School Bus Council represents a unified voice of the school transportation industry, including the public sector, the private sector and the manufacturing segment – the more than 450,000 yellow school buses transporting 25 million children to and from school each day – and is committed to providing safe, effective, efficient and healthy transportation for our nation's schoolchildren. Its members include National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT), National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), National School Transportation Association (NSTA), Bluebird Corp. of Fort Valley , Ga. , IC Corporation of Warrenville , Ill. and Thomas Built Buses of High Point, N.C.

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