On May 12, Evelyn Gurney was about to climb the steps to board her school bus when a pickup truck driver attempting to pass the bus struck her.
Evelyn, from Excelsior, Wisc., died at the scene.
Her death has sent shockwaves through the small town of about 1,700 and prompted several fundraisers to support Evelyn鈥檚 family. that aimed to raise $1,000 had raised more than $96,000 as of early May 24.
鈥淪he鈥檚 just a super kid, worked really, really hard. Everything that she got, you know, she earned,鈥� . 鈥淪he exemplifies everything positive that we would want out of a student.鈥�
Unfortunately, it鈥檚 an all-too-familiar story.
An average of about six students across the country each year were killed while attempting to board or get off of their school buses from 2012 to 2021, The number of injuries and near misses is believed to be much larger.
Often, the crashes happen when drivers illegally pass buses鈥攚hich happens an , according to one survey by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation鈥攄isregarding stop arms and flashing lights that signal children are being picked up or dropped off.
A tiny fraction of those illegal passings end in children being hurt or killed, but each one is a threat to students鈥� safety, said Ronna Weber, executive director of NASDPT.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the biggest safety issue, bar none, that faces school transportation,鈥� Weber said.
In the days following the crash that killed Evelyn Gurney in Wisconsin, the National Transportation Safety Board an independent investigation, in part, to and what technology could be used to reduce crashes when students are boarding or disembarking.
A preliminary report is expected in the coming weeks.
A focus on education
The biggest problem, Weber said, is drivers鈥� ignorance.
Often, motorists claim to be unaware that the maneuver is dangerous, even though passing a school bus that has its stop arm extended and red flashing lights on is illegal in every state, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
That鈥檚 not to say the laws are uniform, though. Some states require drivers to stop on the other side of a divided highway, while others don鈥檛, for example, which can be confusing for drivers, especially as they travel to different states, Weber said.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 always know what the rules are, and that鈥檚 a problem. It always puts a child at risk,鈥� she said.
Because the federal government has limited jurisdiction over local and state roads, there won鈥檛 be a uniform, nationwide law. But there could be a more robust nationwide education campaign about the rules of the road and the risks of passing stopped school buses, said Curt Macysyn, executive director of the National School Transportation Association.
During the last week of April, NSTA representatives met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to advocate for a campaign reminiscent of the 鈥渃lick it or ticket鈥� push begun in the 1990s that encouraged drivers and passengers to wear seat belts. The campaign is generally regarded as successful in .
鈥淲e鈥檙e envisioning this robust campaign where the airwaves are inundated with the information and the message that this is not only illegal but extremely dangerous,鈥� Macysyn said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 just rely on people to seek out this information, we have to really hit them with it.鈥�
Prevention and enforcement
Unable to launch a national awareness campaign on their own, some school districts are taking extra steps to prevent illegal passings and alert police of violations when they happen.
Some, , have tried installing even longer stop-arms that reach out 5 feet from the bus into the opposite lane and have flashing red lights on them.
More commonly, others have invested in installing cameras on their bus fleets that capture images and videos of vehicles that pass buses illegally. Then, those drivers are usually issued fines (the amount varies state to state) via mail.
The cameras are a 鈥渃ritical piece in the equation,鈥� Weber said, because it can be difficult鈥攊f not impossible鈥攆or drivers to get all of the information about a vehicle that passes a bus the moment it happens in order to report it to police. Without a bus camera, drivers would have to record the car鈥檚 license plate, make, model, and color; the time of the violation; and where it happened all on their own and within just a few seconds. That鈥檚 on top of trying to watch the children and other surroundings to make sure they鈥檙e safe.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to get enough information to pass on to law enforcement to be able to do anything about it, but, otherwise, enforcement is almost non-existent,鈥� Weber said.
The problem, Weber said, is that the cameras do little to educate and proactively discourage dangerous driving around school buses. It鈥檚 more reactive. Hopefully, drivers who are caught and fined think twice about passing a stopped bus again, but that still leaves millions of kids at risk, Weber said.
鈥淭he school transportation community moves about 25 million children every day to and from school, so if you think about that number of children who are boarding and exiting a bus every day, getting on and off to go to school and home from school, that鈥檚 a lot of points where they鈥檙e really vulnerable,鈥� Weber said.
And even when a driver is caught and fined, it may not be enough to keep them from doing it again, Macysyn said. It may be more effective for the violations to carry penalties that are reflected on a person鈥檚 driving record.
鈥淚t has to have that kind of level of stigma attached to it instead of, 鈥極h, yeah, I just kind of made a mistake,鈥� 鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey need to be like, 鈥楴o, you made a potentially critical mistake, and you need to understand the consequences,鈥� and I鈥檓 not sure that鈥檚 happening with the way these things are adjudicated across the 50 states.鈥�
What schools can do
There are too many factors for districts to address the problem on their own, Weber and Macysyn said, and it will take buy-in from other agencies at the local, state, and national levels to make a significant difference.
But schools can help.
Realistically, the most effective step schools can take is to raise awareness about bus safety rules as clearly and as often as possible.
As students prepare to return from summer break, schools can carry out local awareness campaigns. They should distribute fliers about bus safety and post the local rules to their websites and social media pages, Weber said. That should be repeated around National School Bus Safety Week in October, and periodically throughout the year. The more people schools reach, the better, she said.
It鈥檚 also important to teach students about how to be safe pedestrians, Macysyn added. That could include reminders about staying on sidewalks when available, being aware of their surroundings, and waiting for the bus driver to tell them when to board and disembark.
鈥淭he child is a pedestrian, so we have to teach them to also be on the lookout,鈥� Macysyn said. 鈥淲e know that just because the rules are in place doesn鈥檛 mean people are following them.鈥�
