United States Senate
WASHINGTON, DC 20510

 The Honorable Mike Huckabee
Governor of Arkansas
250 State Capitol
Little Rock, AR 72201

Dear Governor Huckabee:

We are writing to ask your help to ensure- the safety of children traveling to and from school. In June of this year, the National Transportation Safety -Board (NTSB) conducted a noteworthy investigation on the use of buses that do not conform to federal safety standards for the transportation of children in school buses.

The NTSB study examined a series of school bus crashes occurring in 1998 and early 1999 in which a total of nine people were killed and thirty-six were injured. Most of the victims, including eight fatalities, were children. After a careful review of these incidents, the NTSB concluded the crash victims might have sustained fewer and less severe injuries had they been riding in buses that met federal safety standards for transporting children in school buses.

In general school bus travel is one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States. Each year more than 23.5 million children travel more than 4.3 billion miles on school buses. Despite the significant number of students transported and miles traveled, an average of nine children die each year. Obviously, any loss of life is tragic and this record can and should be improved.

The Congress, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the NTSB have consistently sought the highest level of safety for the transportation of school age children. In 1974, Congress directed the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) to establish school bus safety standards. These standards require higher levels of safety performance for school buses than other passenger vehicles, including rollover protection, body joint strength, emergency exits, and floor strength. These and other standards help to ensure the safety of children transported on school buses.

The Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, recently approved by the Congress and signed by the President, includes provisions designed to ensure proper skills and training of the school bus driver. Specifically, the Secretary of DOT is directed to establish a special Commercial Driver's License endorsement for drivers of school buses and provide for consistent training and testing requirements among the states. At a minimum, the new bus driver standards will require a driving skills test in a school bus and address proper safety procedures for loading and unloading children using emergency exits, and traversing highway rail grade crossings.