Active Advance Warning Devices Show Promise for School Bus Zone Safety (0-4749-S)

The findings contained in this report respond to the three part problem described below: 1. Children are at greatest risk when in school bus loading or unloading zones. Students are three to four times more likely to be killed while boarding or leaving the bus than while riding the bus. 2. Efforts to improve safety at school bus loading or unloading zones have been focused on increasing school bus conspicuity and enhancing driver guidance. However, none of these efforts are effective (i.e., visible from a distance) if a school bus is stopped in an area of limited visibility. 3. The constant display of the static warning message, SCHOOL BUS STOP AHEAD, combined with the limited presence of the hazard (i.e., the stopped school bus and children), results in rapid motorist desensitization to the risk and a subsequent degradation in safety at school bus loading and unloading zones.