Hutchinson company donates 10,000 bumper stickers

Collins Bus Corp. on Thursday, Aug. 29, donated 10,000 bumper stickers in support of Stop on Red, Kids Ahead, a school bus safety campaign.

The bumper stickers will be disseminated to Kansas school districts by the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE).

Collins Bus is a bus manufacturing company based in Hutchinson.

Chris Hiebert, vice president/general manager of Collins Bus, presented the bumper stickers at 1 p.m. to Keith Dreiling, director of KSDE’s School Bus Safety Unit. Ben Jones, a Kansas State Board of Education member representing district 7, also attended the presentation.

“The Kansas State Department of Education wishes to thank Collins Bus, with the support of Lowen Color Graphics, for the donation of the 10,000 bumper stickers,” Dreiling said. “These bumper stickers support our new campaign, Stop on Red, Kids Ahead.” 

The bumper stickers will be given to districts throughout the state at upcoming KSDE meetings as a way to promote the Stop on Red, Kids Ahead campaign, which was created to bring awareness to the Kansas school bus stop arm law.

“We are honored to help out with this program to get the word out on stop arm violations,” Hiebert said. “Hopefully this helps to keep the kids even safer while riding the bus.”

In April 2019, Kansas bus drivers reported 1,040 stop arm violations. The data was collected during the Kansas One-Day Stop Arm Violation Count. There were 220 districts and 3,300 buses that participated in this year’s Kansas survey. In April 2018, 214 districts and 3,347 buses participated and reported 1,030 violations. There were 691 violations reported by 188 districts (2,527 buses) in April 2017.

 “So often in the news, we focus on buildings and the security of our physical sites, but we also need to address the safety of our students on our school buses,” said Ben Jones, a Kansas State Board of Education member who attended the presentation. “The amount of stop arm violations in just one day is unacceptable, and it is ripe for a student-vehicle accident. We must do better to remind motorists to stop when the arm extends and the red lights flash.”

The Stop on Red, Kids Ahead campaign includes news releases, social media reminders, posters for schools, safety flyers, informational handouts and bumper stickers.

For more information about the campaign, go to https://www.ksde.org/Agency/Fiscal-and-Administrative-Services/School-Finance/School-Bus-Safety/Stop-On-Red-Kids-Ahead-Campaign.