2022 National School Bus Illegal Passing Survey
While school buses remain incredibly safe, we all know that students are most vulnerable when they are outside the bus in the “danger zone." Oregon is assisting the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) in coordinating a national survey to document illegal passing of school buses. The data will help improve safety countermeasures at the state or national level.
We are requesting your assistance in this important project.
On May 17, 2022, please have your district's school bus operators observe and report any instances of motorists illegally passing their school buses, using the attached form. Even drivers who have no “pass-bys" on the day of the survey should turn in the form so that we can get accurate data on how many pass-bys occur per day per bus.
Please instruct drivers to pay particular attention to the instructions and safety precautions. As always, their primary duty is to the safety of their students. Please have your drivers pay particular attention to the bottom of the form where they are instructed to “report only illegal passes that occur while the bus driver is stopped with red warning lights flashing and stop arm(s) deployed in full compliance with our state training and procedures."
Please collect your district's results and report them no later than May 20, 2022 as follows:
- Have drivers complete the Illegal Passing Driver Report Form and give to a designated person at your location.
- Using the information provided by the drivers, complete the Illegal Passing Summary Tool Spreadsheet.
- Submit the spreadsheet to buslicense@ode.state.or.us
Questions may be addressed by using the email above or by calling Brock Dittus at (503) 947-5724.
Thank you for your help with this important initiative.