Measuring Motorist Comprehension of Florida’s School Bus Stop Law and School Bus Signalization Devices

Abstract

Motorists’ knowledge of Florida’s school bus stop law (the Law) and various school bus signalizations was investigated and is summarized. The study focused on determining the level of motorists’ knowledge regarding their driving responsibilities as defined in the Law and the meaning of the various signalizations used on school buses. To gather the necessary information, a simple one-page survey was developed and distributed to a random sample of driver’s license examining offices in the state. Summary statistics indicate that significant confusion exists on the part of motorists regarding their responsibilities as defined in the Law as well as the meaning of the various school bus signalizations. In addition to the reporting of summary statistics, many logistic regression models were developed using the sample data to determine the odds ratios of increasing motorists’ knowledge of the Law and signalizations associated with explanatory variables including age, gender, ethnicity, receipt of a citation for violation of the Law, and recent exposure to safety information about the Law and signalizations via driver training courses, public service announcements (PSAs) on TV or radio, or some other form of electronic or printed media, for example. Findings from some of the models indicate that certain factors significantly increased and decreased the odds of motorists having knowledge of the Law and various signalizations. Recommendations include increasing the awareness of motorists through PSAs, adding questions to driver’s license examinations about stopping for school buses, and decreasing the period of time between required driver’s license renewals.

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