First Student Completes Safest Year Ever

CINCINNATI, June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- First Student, the largest provider of student transportation in North America, recently completed its safest year ever, reducing the number of accidents, injuries and incidents significantly.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses are approximately 13 times safer than passenger cars and 10 times safer than walking to school. First Student's most recent safety data confirms that passengers and motorists are extremely safe traveling on or near a First Student bus. The company travels more than 650 million miles annually, transporting 6 million students each day.

"There are more than 1 billion boarding opportunities each year on First Student school buses," said Gary Catapano, senior vice president, First Student Safety. "Our most recent safety statistics show that passengers are safer than ever when they board one of our school buses."

First Student traveled more than 250,385 miles between preventable collisions in fiscal year 2011 – 2012, and the chance for injury on or around a school bus was 1 in 7,690,000 million miles driven. The chance of a student left unattended on a school bus was 1 in 100,000,000 over the last year, which shows the increased awareness and diligence by drivers and staff to check each bus before exiting.

"We are very proud of our drivers, attendants and technicians who worked to reduce our incident numbers so dramatically," said Gary Catapano, senior vice president, First Student Safety. "Although this was the safest year in our company's history, we are constantly learning and improving. We will not rest until our number of incidents is zero."

First Student attributes this achievement to its strong commitment to employee training, education and face-to-face safety conversations. It focuses on maintaining the highest sense of injury and incident prevention awareness in all of its employees' daily activities.

About First Student, Inc.
First Student, Inc. - a division of Cincinnati, Ohio-based FirstGroup America - is the leader in safe, reliable, sustainable transportation and the largest provider of student transportation services in North America. The company safely transports approximately six million students daily in the US and Canada, using a fleet of approximately 57,400 buses. The safety and security of its passengers is the company's core value, and FirstGroup America was awarded the National Safety Council's 2009 Green Cross for Safety Medal in recognition of its commitment to safety and outstanding safety record.

SOURCE First Student, Inc.