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School Bus Stop Arm Passings: A National Disgrace . Derek GrahamState Director, North CarolinaNC Department of Public Instruction. History. The Florida 1-Day Count - 199610,590 Vehicles passing 3,427 Buses4% on the RIGHT side!(same % in North Carolina)Documented direction of travel, time of day, type of road, type of vehicle, etc.
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1. School Bus Stop Arm Passings
3. History The Florida 1-Day Count - 1996
10,590 Vehicles passing 3,427 Buses
4% on the RIGHT side!
(same % in North Carolina)
Documented direction of travel, time of day, type of road, type of vehicle, etc
4. Florida Community Focus Groups Parents, law enforcement, school folks
Pointed to three issues
low enforcement
Lack of knowledge regarding bus signals
lack of knowledge of when vehicles are required to stop
5. Awareness in Florida Public Service Announcements
Toll Free HOTLINE for reporting violations
Education and Awareness
6. NHTSA Grants - 1998 Offered up to four grants to implement strategies for reducing stoparm violations
Pinellas County, FL
Will County, IL
3 County Area, NC
Univ. of South FL - continued research
7. Will County (IL) Operation S.A.V.E. Stop Arm Violation Enforcement
Illinois State Police
8. Penalty in Illinois $150 fine
3 months driver license suspension for 1st conviction
recorded on driver’s record
9. NHTSA Grant Expand efforts of State Police, local police, school bus drivers to arrest and secure effective prosecution
3 enforcement techniques
Bus garage radio frequencies on police cars
Plain-clothes officers following buses
Driver complaints filed on redesigned forms
10. Education/Awareness PSAs on local radio
PSAs on local cable
Presentations (PTO, etc)
Presentations to Citizen Police Training Classes
11. Results Preparing a comprehensive training manual
Cases tracked through this program resulted in a conviction charge for stop-arm violation charge rather than reduced charges or dismissals
Renewed interest of bus drivers in reporting
IMPROVED DRIVER MORALE!
12. Lessons Learned - Awareness Education teaches more than citations
People read newspapers &react to media
Business owners happy to assist
Someone skilled in dealing with media should be present at media events
Message boards are not welcome in some towns and many rules apply
Planning is critical - don’t wait til the last minute
13. Lessons Learned - Enforcement Stationary patrols in unmarked cars at hot spots can be effective
Any witness vehicle will deter violators
On-site arrests makes prosecution easier
reduces number of witnesses
Effective tracking and prosecution results in a true picture of violations
Patrol techniques seldom yield a true picture
Severity of penalty in Illinois is makes tracking difficult
14. Pinellas County, FL Clearwater, Tampa Bay
NHTSA Grant for enforcement
Clearwater Police Department
How to best target random events?
Speed enforcement around bus stops and school zones
240 4-hour blocks
15. Difficulty with Enforcement Bus enforcement not as easy as it sounds
Officers could be blocked if not in the right position for monitoring.
Press event - scheduled press to ride bus with officers
Not a single violation captured by the media
16. Public Education Promoted Florida DOE’s pass report tipline
Posted artwork on mass transit buses
Video on Cable Access Channel
Next Generation Network produced computer ads displayed in gov’t buildings and retail outlets
Tip Card - Bookmark
17. More Public Education Clearwater Magazine
Variable Message Boards
School bus and large poster at Safety Seat and Bicycle Safety
Poster Contests - Day camps and summer schools
Barney the School Bus - local malls and special events
18. Problems and Successes Problems trying to establish a baseline
Problems conducting multi-agency operations (lost mutual aid agreement)
Successful public awareness - Next Generation Network & Disney Radio; bookmark distribution thru local businesses
Unable to get project partners to contribute $
19. Clearwater Police - RESULTS!!! 1997- 36 citations
1998 - 49 citations
1999 - 358 citations
Improvements in getting bus drivers to report violations - follow-up
20. Center for Urban Transp. Research, Univ. of South FL Did the original quantification of the problem in Florida in May, 1995
In 2000, CUTR did a follow-up study to determine the effect of efforts since 1995
Number of violations slightly increased
More aggressive driving
More buses
More drivers
21. Recommendations: Local Formation and participation of Community Traffic Safety Team committees
Focus on enforcement and education
Get wide representation
Implement practical and effective countermeasures
Continue Enforcement Blitzes
22. TEXAS - TxDOT Grant to UTHSCSA University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
3 year project beginning 1999
source: School Transportation Director
23. Project Activity Develop an information campaign publicizing the “illegal passer” program
Establish toll free number
Coordination with local PD
Distribute brochure to “illegal passers”
24. Project Activity Corporate Contributions
Billboards ($15k value for $4k)
*BUS on GTE
Radio PSA
1,876 license numbers reported
Many calls asking for info on the law
Identified confusion on the school bus stop law
25. Stoparm Activityin North Carolina 1996 Report on Florida stoparm study at NAPT
Within 2 weeks a car passed a stopped school bus in Davidson County, NC injuring two students
We knew that it was a problem for North Carolina as well as Florida - this drove it home!
26. Stop Arm Violation Task Force Department of Public Instruction
Guilford County Schools
Wake County Schools
Wilson County Schools
Governor’s Highway Safety Program
Highway Patrol
Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE)
Division of Motor Vehicles
27. Data Gathering - First Statewide Count April 15, 1997: 114 districts - nearly 13,000 buses
2,636 Violations
Statewide each Spring since
Data gathering is very important
Annual count - 1500-2100 violations reported for 10,000-13,000 buses
28. NHTSA Project Concentrate on a 3-county area
Onslow, Pender and New Hanover Counties
Onslow, New Hanover - high number of violations
Endorsed by DMV, Public Schools, Highway Patrol, etc.
29. Kickoff Meeting - Sept. 1998 All key agencies involved
Most important outcomes:
Law enforcement not convinced that the data were valid
Questions about bus driver use of the stop arm
LESSONS LEARNED - The kickoff meeting is not the best time to find out that you don’t have buy-in from stakeholders
30. Time and Motion Study Using an external video camera, ITRE staff validated claims of improper equipment use
STOP EVERYTHING!!
More Driver Training Needed
31. Distance from amber to red
33. Daily Stop Arm Violations Reported April 15, 1997 - 61
April 27, 1998 - 40
Daily average, week of 10/12/98 - 22.6
(AFTER bus driver training)
34. The Plan for Technology Utilize the Transportation Information Management System (TIMS)
Statewide system of computer-assisted routing and scheduling
all bus stops in the school district are in the computer map database by address
Generate maps of reported incidences for use by law enforcement
40. Operation Stop Arm - Onslow, Pender, New Hanover Stepped up enforcement - Grant paid for Trooper Overtime
Press conference to describe what we were getting ready to do
Displayed the bus-mounted camera
41. Operation Stop Arm -Onslow, Pender, New Hanover Little media response
TV in one location; newspaper only in the other
42. Operation Stop Arm -Onslow, Pender, New Hanover Several traffic violations cited
Few if any school bus passings observed
Data maps not generally used
46. Finally - RESULTS!! Video was the tool to let school folks and law enforcement see what was actually happening
State trooper assigned to field reported violations
Camera-related citations have resulted in guilty pleas (even if to a lesser charge)
48. Results - not everywhere! The reductions seen in Onslow County were not seen in the other counties
49. Valuable Insights Involve key agencies before starting
Training of bus drivers
Gather data to identify problem areas
Make use of technology
Relationship with law enforcement
Remember that data? Make sure it is good and share it with law enforcement
Public awareness is effective
50. Key to Success in Onslow County Transportation Director Jeff Smith
Trooper R.A. Hood
51. Winston-Salem, NC - Dalton Folwell 2nd Grade Student
son of School Board Member
Waiting for the bus on a tree-lined street
Crossed the street when he saw the bus
Struck and killed by motorist from out-of-country driving on an international driver’s license
52. Local Task Force DA’s office
Judges
Law Enforcement
School Transportation Department
Added Cameras
53. State-Level InitiativesPublic Awareness
55. Getting the Word Out - The Role of the Media Television Advertising
Radio Advertising
EXPENSIVE
Can’t do it - or can’t do it alone
56. The Alltel Partnership North Carolina News Network - 85 affiliate stations across NC
$40,000 + spent by Alltel
$8,000 spent by state
57. Ad in North Carolina Magazine
58. Dateline NBC Look for a feature in September
Cameras on buses -
Violation caught on tape!!