While school buses remain incredibly safe, students who ride in buses are most vulnerable when they are outside the bus in the "danger zone." In 2010, NASDPTS passed a resolution initiating the first national survey to determine the prevalence of illegal passing of school buses. Using that data as a starting point, NASDPTS encourages improved safety countermeasures at the state or national level.  The NASDPTS Resolution directing the effort (from November 2010) can be found here.

Additionally, NHTSA has come up with its own "Reducing the Illegal Passing of School Buses - Best Practices Guide".  Click here to view the Guide.

Results

PENDING | 2026 Survey Results and its 2026 press release

2025 Survey Results and its 2025 press release

2024 Survey Results and its 2024 press release. | Click Here for State Penalties for Illegally Passing Stopped School Buses.

2023 Survey Results and its 2023 press release

Due to COVID-19, there was not a survey done in 2020 nor in 2021.  Therefore, the most-recent results (2019) of the Annual Stop Arm Violation Counts are listed below. 

2019 Raw Data and its 2019 press release 

2018 Survey Results

Survey Instructions

National School Bus Illegal Passing Survey – 2026 Survey Documents

• The reporting form drivers should use to ensure that they record illegal passing in a nationally consistent format.
  
  
• A sample letter that you can send to your school districts to announce and launch the survey.
  
  
• A spreadsheet that you can use within your office to collect and aggregate the data from each of your state’s school districts (the state spreadsheet), and,
  
  
• A spreadsheet that your local school districts can use to collect and total the data from each of their individual driver forms (the local district spreadsheet).
  
  
• CLICK HERE for the memo sent to all State Directors which has background information on this project.