New Jersey to Require Motion Sensors on School Buses

Earlier this year, the New Jersey Governor signed a law that requires all new school buses to be equipped with motion sensors. These sensors will detect people or objects that are in the blind spots in front of or behind the bus. Legislators and safety experts hope that this will prevent tragedies involving small children near school buses.

Abigail’s Law

A 2003 tragedy where a toddler was killed by a school bus led to legislative action in New Jersey requiring motion sensors on new buses. The law was named in honor of two-year-old Abigail who wandered outside of her home without her mother’s knowledge and stood in front of a stopped bus. The driver was unable to see her from the driver’s seat. The law received the full support of both the school bus industry and local school boards. It was approved by a vote of 38-0 in the State Senate.

School Bus Safety

Young children are particularly at risk when it comes to school bus fatalities. They are most often injured or killed outside the bus that they ride, but this is not always the case. The motion sensors will have an alarm that will sound when a child is near a bus and the driver will be immediately notified.

School districts across the country have been turning to transportation management software to help them keep students safe. An emphasis on school bus safety has led to the installation of stop-arm cameras to prevent illegal passing, GPS software to alert transportation departments to unapproved stops or route deviations, routing software that helps school districts to plan safe routes, and student tracking programs that ensure all riders make it safely to their destination.

To learn more about the technological tools and specialized transportation software programs that are keeping school bus riders safe, contact BusBoss. Our team of transportation professionals will discuss the needs of your district with you and help you to determine which options will work best with your requirements and budget.

Has your school district installed motion sensors on its buses? How has this impacted the operations of your transportation department? What other technological tools are you using to ensure school bus safety? We appreciate your feedback.