Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BusPatrol, the leading school bus safety technology company in North America, last week convened the first-ever National School Bus Safety Summit, bringing together more than 400 national leaders in government, public safety, technology, law enforcement, education, and child advocacy for a landmark discussion on the escalating dangers children face around school buses. The Summit, supported by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and Safe Kids Worldwide, marked the first coordinated national effort to accelerate solutions addressing the millions of illegal school bus stop-arm violations that occur each year.
In the months ahead, GHSA, in collaboration with BusPatrol, will develop a comprehensive national blueprint for action—a strategic framework for policymakers, law enforcement, educators, and transportation leaders to strengthen school bus safety nationwide and build on the momentum generated at the Summit.
Photos from the event can be found here.
Throughout the day, attendees heard from leading experts across a series of panel discussions that explored the multifaceted challenges confronting student transportation safety. Panel topics included Aboard the Bus: The Landscape of School Bus Safety; Enforcement Changing Behavior: The Role of Law Enforcement & Courts; Communities Working Together: On/Off the Bus; Public/Private Partnerships: Fueling a Mission, Changing Culture; and Advocacy in Action: Policies That Save Lives.
In addition, two keynote addresses were delivered by Justin Meyers, President and Chief Innovation Officer at BusPatrol, and Karoon Monfared, CEO of BusPatrol, who shared his own emotional story of witnessing a childhood friend struck by a vehicle while disembarking from a school bus—an experience that has shaped his lifelong commitment to student safety.
Featured speakers also included:
- Jonathan Adkins, CEO of the Governors Highway Safety Association
- Torine Creppy, President, SafeKids Worldwide
- Frederick S. Humphries, Jr., Corporate Vice President, U.S. Government Affairs, Microsoft
- Michael Hanson, Director, MN Office of Traffic Safety/Chair, GHSA
- Kristin Poland, Ph.D., Acting Director, Office of Highway Safety, NTSB
- Molly McGee Hewitt, Ph.D., CEO & Executive Director, National Association for Pupil Transportation
- Russ Rador, Chief Communications Officer, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
- Sharon Bryson, Director, Delaware Highway Safety Office
- Emily Davidson, Director, Ohio Traffic Safety Office
- Cathy Chase, President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
- Kelly Browning,Ph.D. Executive Director, Impact Teen Drivers
- Anthony Baldoni, VP of Strategic Initiatives, Axon
- The Honorable Kate Huffman, National Judicial Fellow, ABA
- Adam Youssi, Supervisor of Automated Enforcement Howard County (MD) Police Department
- Marisa Jones, Managing Director, Safe Routes to School Partnership
- Erin Inman, Director, National Traffic Law Center, NDAA
- Leah Walton, Transportation Safety Specialist, National Transportation Safety Board
- Prisha Shah, National President, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
- Sutton Sherrard, FCCLA National Student VP of Programs
- Steve Randazzo, Chief Growth Officer, BusPatrol
- Ryan Monell, Executive Vice President, Government Operations, BusPatrol
- Rick Birt, Vice President of Government Operations and Safety, BusPatrol
Every day across the United States, thousands of drivers illegally pass stopped school buses—even when red lights are flashing and stop-arms are deployed. With almost 500,000 school buses operating daily, this results in millions of violations each year, placing children in immediate danger. A recent survey by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services found that in a single day, school bus drivers reported over 67,000 illegal passes. When projected over an academic year, that equates to more than 39 million unsafe encounters.
To confront this issue, officials emphasized the importance of implementing the safety roadmap outlined by the National Transportation Safety Board following the 2018 fatal crash in Rochester, Indiana. Those recommendations call for a three-pronged strategy combining education, traditional law enforcement, and automated enforcement technology. Since the release of that report, at least 30 states have passed laws enabling the deployment of camera-based stop-arm enforcement tools, paving the way for companies like BusPatrol and others to assist communities nationwide.
The summit also highlighted how school districts across the country are increasingly adopting AI-powered enforcement tools to monitor and document dangerous driver behavior. BusPatrol, which launched in 2017, has become the largest school bus safety technology provider in North America, with high-definition cameras and AI models installed on more than 40,000 buses across nearly two dozen states. This technology has supplied districts and law enforcement agencies with unprecedented visibility into the magnitude of the danger children face on their way to and from school.
"When a child loses their life, it’s more than any community can bear, it’s more than any of us can bear. And so what do we do when an unspeakable tragedy occurs? We respond and we take action," said Justin Meyers, President and Chief Innovation Officer at BusPatrol. "Today cannot be the end of the conversation but must be the beginning of a coordinated, relentless push to accelerate school bus safety in every state, every district, and every community. Our commitment to you at BusPatrol is that however you want to show up for this fight we will be there with you -- we will team up, we will share data, we will push policy, and we will build partnerships to protect our children and make our communities safer."
“The data show that even around our most vulnerable population, young kids, people are driving in risky and unsafe ways,” said Jonathan Adkins, CEO of the Governors Highway Safety Association. “We look forward to supporting the State Highway Safety Offices as they implement recommendations that emerge from this important safety conversation."
“The safety of children as they make their way to and from school should be one of our nation’s top priorities,” said Torine Creppy, President of Safe Kids Worldwide. “No matter how kids travel—riding on buses, in cars, on bikes or walking — we must keep them safe from preventable injuries. We look forward to working with our partners to identify innovative and effective ways to keep kids safe at home, at school, at play, and on the way.”
“School Bus Safety is a crisis on our roadway," said Jessica Hugdahl, Acting Chief Executive Officer of SADD. "The National School Bus Safety Summit elevated the youth voice in this issue, as millions of students board the bus every day. We thank BusPatrol for their leadership in this space, as SADD is proud to work with this coalition of partners to make our roadways safer for us.”
“The inaugural National Bus Safety Summit created a vital platform for meaningful dialogue and partnership,” said Dr. Kelly Browning, Executive Director, Impact Teen Drivers. “I appreciate BusPatrol’s leadership in bringing national stakeholders together, and I look forward to continuing our work to strengthen school bus safety.”
“Children are our most precious passengers and families rely on school buses to safely transport them to and from school,” said Cathy Chase, President of Advocates for Highway Safety. “To address critical safety vulnerabilities, we support actions aimed at implementing safety recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) like ensuring each seat has a three-point safety belt and that buses are equipped with technologies like automatic emergency braking. We must do all we can to protect the future of these young people, and we look forward to working with our safety partners to do so.”
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