HOGLUND BUS AND TRUCK BLOGS

From the MSBOA

We have a golden opportunity to make School Bus Safety Week permanent with this President Proclamation but we need you to write your congressperson to ask for their vote. Please do your part and pass this request to your State Association, National Association, Bus Vendors, State Director of Transportation, School Administrators, and every person in transportation and your friends to help us out.

On behalf of the school bus industry, Congressman Brian Hill (D) of Indiana will be introducing a Presidential School Bus Safety Week Proclamation next month designating the third week in October of every year as National School Bus Safety Week. We need everyone's support on this. Attached is a sample letter that pupil transportation personnel can use to contact their congressperson encouraging them to vote "yes" when the bill comes to the floor for a vote.

You can find the name of your Congressperson by entering your nine number zip code at http://www.house.gov/

Find your Zip code at: http://www.zip-code-database.org/

Phone Numbers: http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mcapdir.html

Representative Offices, alphabetic: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml


If you like, please write a thank you note to Congressman Hill's office for his support for our cause by phoning, faxing or mailing him at:

Washington DC phone #: 202-225-5315

Fax letters in, the number is 202-226-6866

Mailing address is:

Congressman Baron Hill
223 CHOB
Washington, DC 20515

Thanks for your help and support,
Gerry Oram
Member National School Bus Safety Week Committee

(Just copy and paste the sample letter into your email.) (Use your letterhead if you have one)


Dear Congressman/woman________________________:

The school bus transportation family of America, is requesting your support for Congressman Baron Hill's (D, IN) National School Bus Safety Week Presidential Proclamation.

Approximately 580,000 school buses transport twenty-six million of our nation's children 52 million passenger trips daily, traveling approximately 4.4 billion miles annually. According to the latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the fatality rate for school buses is only 0.2 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled compared to 1.5 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled for automobiles making school buses the safest system of transportation in the nation.

We ask for your support in honoring all school transportation personnel the third week of October of each year by voting yes on Congressman Baron Hill's (D- IN) School Bus Safety Week Presidential Proclamation and please contact Congressman Hill's office giving your support to this Proclamation.

For greater school bus safety,

(Your name, address here)



Proclamation - National School Bus Safety Week

Whereas, Children are our nation's most precious resource, representing our nation's future, and protecting them needs to be our highest priority; and

Whereas, 480,000 school buses carry 26 million elementary and secondary children 52 million passenger trips daily traveling approximately 4.4 billion miles each year; and

Whereas, America's school buses comprise the largest mass transportation fleet in the country, being 2.5 times the size of all other forms of mass transportation combined; and

Whereas, School buses meet higher construction specifications and inspection standards than any other vehicle; and

Whereas, According to the latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statement, the fatality rate for school buses is only 0.2 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled compared to 1.5 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled for cars; and that makes school buses the safest means of transportation in the nation: and

Whereas, School bus drivers meet higher qualification, training, and testing standards than any other drivers; and

Whereas, Many people are not aware that the school bus is the safest way for children to get to school, and many parents erroneously believe that driving their children to school helps protect them from injury, yet according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, about 800 children are killed annually during normal school travel hours in vehicles other than school buses; and

Whereas, Most of the 15 children killed each year around school buses are aged five to seven and are killed in the area immediately surrounding the bus, either by a passing car or the bus itself; and

Whereas, It is estimated that each week, 350,000 cars ignore the flashing red lights on a school buses and pass the bus during loading and unloading procedures; and

Whereas, National School Bus Safety Week, which dates back to 1966, also recognizes the hard work and dedication of school transportation personnel, especially the many school bus drivers who ensure a safe journey each and every day; and

Whereas, National School Bus Safety Week, is celebrated in the United States and different parts of the world to remind all students of the best ways to get on and off the bus, safe riding rules and in an effort to enhance the safety of the children; and

Whereas, National School Bus Safety Week, celebrated the third week in October, promotes awareness through local and state poster contests, lessons utilizing school bus safety community awareness kits, and other activities built around themes that raise awareness of school bus safety
issues: and

Whereas, The thousands of pupil transportation professionals throughout every state work continuously to promote the safety of our nation's school aged children and to improve upon an already stellar safety record through national conferences, driving and poster competitions, and local medial promotions emphasizing the importance of school bus safety both on and off the school bus: and

Now, therefore, I Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States do hereby proclaim the third full week in October as National School Bus Safety Week each year, and encourage all citizens to join me in recognizing the hard work and dedication of pupil transportation professionals, the excellent safety record of school bus drivers, the benefits of school bus driver training, the importance of students obeying safety rules at all times, and the need for heightened vigilance on the part of all vehicle drivers when in the vicinity of school buses.

In Witness Thereof, I have hereunto set my hand this _____day of _______ in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.