CHATHAM, Ill. (WAND) – Ball-Chatham Community Unit School District #5 has taken new steps to protect students during their daily bus rides by installing stop arm extensions on its fleet of school buses.
The enhanced safety feature is designed to improve visibility for drivers and prevent vehicles from illegally passing stopped school buses.
The new stop arm extensions, developed by the Springfield-based company BusGates, attach to existing bus stop signs and extend 72 inches, featuring LED lighting. District officials say the additional visibility is a simple but effective way to keep students safe as they get on and off the bus.
“The safety of our students is always our top priority,” said Superintendent Dr. Becca Lamon. “We're proud to partner with BusGates to bring this innovative technology to our school buses. Enhancing the visibility of stop signals is a simple but powerful step toward ensuring that students can get on and off the bus safely every day. This is an important investment in the well-being of our children and the safety of our entire community."
Transportation Director Mark Daley said the extensions are part of a larger effort to curb illegal stop-arm violations, which remain a daily challenge.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” Daley said. “The bus is painted the color it is to bring awareness to what it does. We have lights and cameras, and now with the extended arms, we’re doing everything we can to get drivers to stop.”
Local bus driver and dispatcher Justin Brake said he sees the risks firsthand and hopes the new technology will make a difference.
“It’s always a scare that a driver is going to go past that stop arm,” Break said. “It happens every day, and it’s heartbreaking because all these kids are like my kids when they’re on that bus. As a father of two, I’d be devastated if anything happened.”
Nationwide, illegal school bus passing remains a serious problem. The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), in July, released its survey on illegal passing of stopped school buses. In 36 states throughout the country and the District of Columbia, approximately 31 percent of the nation's school bus drivers participated in a one-day survey to report motorists who passed their stopped school buses. That survey found that 67,258 vehicles passed their buses illegally on a single day during the 2024-2025 school year.
Ball-Chatham School District reported 60 violations during the 2024-2025 school year. Director Daley told WAND News his buses are also equipped with cameras. When a driver illegally passes a bus, the camera will capture that violator, and then the district will turn the video over to police.
Currently, all the buses in the district have been equipped with the extensions.
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