GHSA, BusPatrol release national action plan to end illegal school bus passings (GHSA)

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and BusPatrol released a landmark 50-state action plan for eliminating widespread illegal school bus passings and the death, injuries and emotional trauma that are associated with them.

A National Action Plan for School Bus Safety is the first-ever comprehensive national roadmap to protect the 20 million children who rely on the nation’s 500,000 school buses every day. Drivers in the United States illegally pass school bus stop-arms approximately 39 million times each year. That’s the equivalent of every school bus in the United States being illegally passed once every three days.

To address this child safety crisis, the action plan includes 69 specific recommendations for State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs), law enforcement, educators, school districts, bus drivers, the private sector, autonomous vehicle providers, roadway safety advocates and the judiciary. These recommendations were informed by the expert panel discussions and audience feedback during the inaugural National School Bus Safety Summit. That event, held in December 2025 by BusPatrol with support from GHSA and Safe Kids Worldwide, convened nearly 500 experts, including federal and state officials, law enforcement and myriad roadway and child safety organizations.

The status quo in school bus safety is unacceptable. A total of 1,279 children have been killed in the 10-foot “danger zone” around school buses over the past five decades. These deaths are more than 10 times the number of U.S. soldiers killed in combat during the first Gulf War and exceed the number of U.S. firefighters killed in the line of duty over the last decade. Beyond these fatalities, more than 13,000 injuries occur annually, creating widespread but invisible emotional trauma for children who often associate going to school with the fear of death.

“Illegal and deadly school bus passings are 100% preventable. We must create a new national dialogue and assemble innovative partner networks,” said GHSA Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Adkins. “This action plan moves us past isolated efforts toward a coordinated national strategy, utilizing a Safe System approach to ensure that every child’s journey to and from school is defined by safety, not fear.”

Read “GHSA, BusPatrol Release National Action Plan to End Illegal School Bus Passings” to learn more.