JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Oct. 18, 2006) — With events and celebrations occurring nationwide, Gov. Matt Blunt recognized National School Bus Safety Week by calling on Missourians to observe the 10,000 yellow vehicles that transport more than 550,000 children to and from public schools throughout the state.

“School buses offer the safest form of transportation on the road for our children,” he said in a statement. “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.”

School districts operate Missouri’s largest mass-transit system, and the governor’s office said school buses were expected to rack up more than 125 million miles on the road during the current school year.

Blunt called a School Bus Task Force last year to formally review various safety and operational issues, the first of its kind in Missouri, following a crash in Liberty that killed two other motorists and seriously injured several students. The task force made recommendations to improve training, staffing and equipment, and found that individual school districts are the best equipped to make decisions on implementing 3-point lap/shoulder belts. But exceeded the recommendation by calling for mandatory restraints on all school buses. Legislation followed, but the bill failed. It was expected to be reintroduced during the 2007 session.

"As a result we have seen an increased awareness by school districts and school bus contractors to be even more vigilant in their need for additional training," commented Tom Quinn, director of school governence with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the state's defacto pupil transportation director.