PARMA, Ohio — As the new school year kicks off, school buses are back on the roads, and Parma City schools will be testing a new program this fall that's aimed at improving school bus safety. The district is adding extended stop arms to ten of its school buses.
The new stop arms have two stop signs with flashing red lights and extend an extra three feet from the side of the bus.
“The hope is that, just like the auxiliary warning lights that we put on the buses, that it grabs people’s attention, and it wakes them up or it has them put their phone down and they realize, before it’s too late, that there is a school bus stopped ahead and that they need to prepare to stop,” said Angelo Caputo, director of transportation for the Parma City School District.
Each extended bus stop arm costs about $2,100.
If the program is successful, the Parma City School District will consider adding extended stop arms to more buses.
