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School Bus Safety

bus

Millions of children across the nation ride on a school bus every day – that’s why school bus safety is important in every community. Use this material to educate the public about bus stop safety, including illegal school bus passing. 

Many assets are available in English and Spanish. Share this information with partner organizations to help spread the message across all communities. 

October 21-25, 2024, is National School Bus Safety Week – a great opportunity to increase messaging. Also, consider increasing message volume when students return to class after long breaks –  like the end of summer and winter holidays. 

Facts

School bus facts, stats and reports from NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis

Get More Facts & Reports
  • From 2012 to 2021 there were 998 fatal school-transportation-related crashes, and 1,110 people of all ages were killed in those crashes — an average of 111 fatalities per year.
  • From 2012 to 2021, there were 1.6 times more fatalities among pedestrians (183) than occupants of school transportation vehicles (113) in school transportation-related crashes.
  • From 2012 to 2021, there were 113 occupants killed in school transportation vehicles; 52 were drivers, and 61 were passengers. Most (70%) of the people killed in school-transportation-related crashes were occupants of other vehicles involved in the crashes.
  • School buses are statistically the safest way to transport school children. Unfortunately, dangers still arise: From 2000-2021, there were 53 fatalities in crashes that involved a driver illegally passing a stopped school bus, an average of 2.4 fatalities a year. Almost half of those fatalities (25) were pedestrians who were 18 years old or younger.
  • In the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services 2022 Stop Arm survey, 79,859 school bus drivers reported that 51,593 vehicles passed their buses illegally on a single day during the 2020-21 school year. Throughout a 180-day school year, these sample results point to more than 41.8 million violations per year among America’s motoring public.

For facts translated in Spanish, visit NHTSA.gov/Espanol.

Graphics

Asset Type

English
Yellow and Red | English 4 animated | 4 static
Kids Ahead | English 4 animated | 4 static
Stop Means Stop | English 4 animated | 4 static
Same Stop Bus | English 4 static
English
School Bus Alicia | English 4 animated | 4 static
School Bus Jordan | English 4 animated | 4 static
School Bus Kaitlyn 4 animated | 4 static
School Bus Quiz | English 4 static
Spanish
Yellow and Red | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Kids Ahead | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Stop Means Stop | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
Same Stop Bus | Spanish 4 static
Spanish
School Bus Alicia | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
School Bus Ariana | Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
School Bus Jorge| Spanish 4 animated | 4 static
School Bus Quiz | Spanish 4 static

Videos

Video | School Bus Safety | Motorist :30 English with Spanish subtitles
Video | School Bus Safety | Pedestrian :30 English with Spanish subtitles

Social Media

We created a social media playbook that contains sample social media content in English and Spanish. Download this guide for instructions on posting the below playbook graphics to Facebook, X and Instagram.  The content is designed for easy posting and seamless integration into your current social media strategy.

Also, additional sample social media posts, in English and Spanish, are available for download.

Talking Points

We've prepared talking points related to school bus safety. Some are for drivers, and others are for parents and students. After downloading, we encourage you to add local stats and facts to the document. 

Variable Message Board

STOP MEANS STOP

STOP FOR

SCHOOL BUSES

KEEP KIDS SAFE

SLOW DOWN FOR

SCHOOL BUSES

OBEY THE SIGN

STOP FOR SCHOOL

BUS STOPS

Above are examples of messages that can be used on variable message boards. 

Live Reads

We've produced live reads that can be used on radio. There are five options: 60, 30, 15, 10 and 5 second reads.

Banner Ads

Asset Type

Static | English
Kaitlyn Static | 7 Sizes
Jordan Static | 7 Sizes
Alicia Static | 7 Sizes
Static | Spanish
Jorge (Spanish) Static | 7 Sizes
Alicia (Spanish) Static | 7 Sizes
Ariana (Spanish) Static | 7 Sizes
Animated | English & Spanish
School Bus Banner Ads | Animated_English 3 Versions
School Bus Banner Ads | Animated_Spanish 3 Versions

National School Bus Safety Week

October 21-25, 2024 is National School Bus Safety Week and you'll see increased communication related to school bus safety. You can use any of the materials available on this page to increase your school bus safety messaging.

In addition, sample news releases and op-eds can be downloaded and used during National School Bus Safety Week.

  • Coming Soon: 2024 News Release and Op-Ed | English
  • Coming Soon: 2024 News Release and Op-Ed | Spanish

Additional Resources