School Bus Safety Week (2009)

School Bus Safety Week

WHEREAS, the safety and well-being of Virginia’s school-aged children are important to parents, family members, teachers and citizens; and

WHEREAS, over 15,000 school bus operators transport approximately 1,000,000 students over 155 million miles throughout Virginia each school year, making school bus safety crucial to the overall well-being of our children and families;  and

WHEREAS, school bus transportation employees should be recognized for their diligence in safely transporting the school children of the Commonwealth of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, student transportation administrators and operators are diligent in their efforts to ensure the same and efficient transportation of thousands of students in Virginia on a daily basis, and their efforts are crucial to the operation of our public and private schools; and

WHEREAS, the highest standards of school bus safety are maintained through rigorous driver training and certification requirements, the use of vehicles that meet necessary safety requirements and mandatory passenger safety training for students; and

WHEREAS, the cooperation and caution of motorists are necessary in order to maintain the safety of Virginia’s children, and this can be accomplished by citizens complying with traffic signals, observing traffic patterns and by stopping when students are boarding and exiting school buses;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Timothy M. Kaine, do hereby recognize October 19-23, 2009 as SCHOOL BUS SAFETY WEEK in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA , in conjunction with October 21, 2009 as SCHOOL BUS TRANSPORTATION EMPLOYEES APPRECIATION DAY, I call these observances to the attention of all our citizens.