National School Bus Safety Week

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The third week in October is designated as National School Bus Safety Week.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Jirles listed some of the more common school bus safety violations along with a few statistics associated with school bus safety. 

“Most of our violations that we’re discovering locally are centered around a couple of areas. Number one: a high congested area, like in a city, village or on our state routes, where we see some increased traffic; where it’s just a busy place. And it creates a tough situation for our drivers and our students to get on and off the bus safely. Last year, we saw about a 25 percent increase in school bus violations,” Sgt. Jirles said.  

Jirles noted that there have been over 6,000 traffic crashes involving school buses in Ohio, since 2019, and went on to explain the consequences of disregarding school bus safety.

“Nearly all the school buses have cameras on them now and they’re recording those violations. And once the driver reports that violation and it’s recorded, those folks are getting cited. They’re very comparable to a construction zone violation. If you’re cited for passing a stopped school bus, it’s going to cost you a trip to court and you’re going to have to see a judge. He’ll set the penalty, obviously there,” Sgt. Jirles said.

In addition to traffic cameras being installed in the nearly 20,000 school buses across the state, the buses are also being outfitted with additional reflective decals that make them more visible all hours of the day.