Stop Today. Protect Tomorrow. Toolkit Empowers Communities During National School Bus Safety Week

National School Bus Safety Week is October 19 through 23, 2026, and Verra Mobility is providing a free toolkit with ready-to-use resources that schools, school districts, and community organizations can share this week and throughout the year. The milestone offers an opportunity for schools, transportation professionals, families, students, and drivers to reinforce the everyday actions that help keep children safe on and around school buses.

While illegal school bus passing is declining, too many children remain at risk. The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services estimates that 38.4 million illegal school bus passings occurred during the 2025-2026 school year, down from 39.3 million the previous year and 45.2 million two years earlier. The numbers represent an approximately 15% decline over two years.

Even with this improvement, drivers illegally pass stopped school buses an estimated 213,800 times on a typical school day. Parents and caregivers see the danger firsthand: 37% say they have witnessed an illegal school bus passing, and 33% have seen a near miss near a stopped school bus.

The toolkit makes it easier to share clear, consistent school bus safety information with families, staff, and the broader community. Resources include:

• Social media copy and graphics that raise awareness of illegal passing and safe driving around school buses
• Educational content for websites, newsletters, and family communications

Materials in the linked toolkit are Copyright 2026 Verra Mobility Corporation.  All rights reserved.  Schools, school boards, and non-profit organizations are licensed to copy, redistribute, reproduce, copy, and adapt materials in the toolkit for the sole purposes of safety messaging.

Download the 2026 National School Bus Safety Week Toolkit

Raising awareness is an important part of school bus safety, but it must be reinforced through the choices we make every day. Whether behind the wheel, accompanying a child to the bus stop, or riding the bus, everyone has a role in helping students travel safely. Keep these reminders in mind during National School Bus Safety Week and throughout the school year.

Drivers:

• Come to a complete stop when a school bus displays flashing red lights and extends its stop arm, as required by state law.
• Remain stopped until the red lights turn off, the stop arm retracts, and the bus begins moving.
• Slow down, stay alert, and eliminate distractions near school buses, bus stops, and school zones.

Parents and Caregivers:

• Arrive at the bus stop at least five minutes before the scheduled pickup.
• Teach children to wait at least 10 feet, or five giant steps, away from the road.
• Remind children never to walk behind a school bus and to wait for the bus driver’s signal before crossing.
• Tell children to alert the driver if they drop something near the bus instead of retrieving it themselves.

Students:

• Wait until the bus stops completely and the door opens before approaching.
• Stay where the bus driver can see you.
• Look left, right and left again before crossing the street.
• Cross at least 10 feet in front of the bus, never directly in front of or behind it.

Education is essential, but communities also need tools that reinforce traffic laws and hold dangerous drivers accountable. At Verra Mobility, we go beyond raising awareness; we prioritize making a lasting difference in communities. Our school bus stop arm technology not only holds violators accountable, but it also changes driver behavior.

Across Verra Mobility programs,  98% of drivers cited for illegally passing a stopped school bus did not repeat the offense.  Programs also saw an average 67% decline in stop-arm citations from the beginning to the end of the 2024-2025 school year.

For more information on Verra Mobility’s school bus stop arm safety program, visit verramobility.com/government/school-bus-safety.