Every illegal school bus passing is a choice, and what happens next determines whether that behavior continues or is corrected. At the 2025 National School Bus Safety Summit, that question anchored an expert panel on how law enforcement, prosecutors, and the judiciary can turn these illegal passings into accountability and accountability into lasting behavior change.
Convened in Washington, D.C., by BusPatrol alongside the Governors Highway Safety Association and Safe Kids Worldwide, the Summit brought together the full student transportation safety ecosystem to move from awareness to coordinated action. This session centered on what must happen after a violation is captured for enforcement to be credible, consistent, and effective over time.
Meet the Panel
- Mike Hanson, Director, Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety & Chair, Governors Highway Safety Association
- Justin Meyers, President & Chief Innovation Officer, BusPatrol
- The Honorable Kate Huffman, National Judicial Fellow, American Bar Association
- Adam Yousi, Supervisor, Howard County Department of Police, Automated Enforcement
- Erin Inman, Director, National Traffic Law Center, National District Attorneys Association
Panelists called for a new #SafeSystemApproach, where schools, law enforcement, prosecutors, and the courts are aligned on the law, the evidence, and the process for handling cases, and where state frameworks provide the resources needed to manage the additional workload.
When that structure is in place, accountability becomes more consistent and behavior begins to change. Justin Meyers, President and Chief Innovation Officer of BusPatrol, reinforced this point, noting, “Widespread deployment of automated enforcement will create an environment where drivers learn to follow the law every single time, which essentially eliminates the decision for a driver to commit a violation by making accountability a certainty.”
The panel also highlighted the importance of engaging the courts early. Adam Yousi, supervisor of automated enforcement for the Howard County Police Department, shared how the judiciary was brought into the process before the district launched its automated school bus stop-arm enforcement program, so judges could understand the technology, the legal framework, and the evidence from day one. That early alignment, combined with state policies that recognize and fund the administrative work placed on the courts, helps ensure cases move forward smoothly and enforcement stays consistent over time, rather than rising and falling based on local capacity.
Turn Insight into Action: Download the National School Bus Safety Action Plan
What came out of the National School Bus Safety Summit is a clear path forward. The National School Bus Safety Action Plan, developed in partnership by the Governors Highway Safety Association and BusPatrol, equips decision-makers with the data, strategies, and policy framework to effectively deploy programs, strengthen laws, and change driver behavior.