Andrea Whittaker, Deborah Prusack And Others Receive Awards
Kingston, NY – Ulster County Executive Mike Hein is pleased to announce Ulster County’s School Bus Driver of the Year award winner is Andrea Whittaker of the Kingston City School District. The award recognizes her outstanding service and safety record, and is issued in conjunction with the Ulster County Traffic Safety Board and “Operation Safe STOP.” “Operation Safe Stop” is a cooperative project in New York State that seeks to promote school bus safety through education and enforcement efforts.
“I want to congratulate the award winners and thank them for their experience, skill, and dedication to safely transporting our children to and from school every day,” said County Executive Mike Hein. Unfortunately, it is estimated that 50,000 vehicles illegally pass school busses each day in New York State. I appreciate `Operation Safe STOP’s´ outstanding efforts to educate the public and raise awareness of the dangers of illegally passing school buses. Those recognized today represent the approximately 700 school bus drivers throughout Ulster County who have the important job of transporting children to school on a daily basis. I also want to recognize our law enforcement community for their continued efforts enforcing the stopped-school bus laws as they protect our children and educate the public about the hazards of passing stopped school buses.”
To honor those who are committed to delivering our children to school safely each day, a ceremony was held yesterday at the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center. Ulster County Deputy Executive Robert Sudlow presented awards to the following winners:
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Andrea Whittaker received the Ulster County School Bus Driver of the Year Award, receiving an Arthur Mulligan Award and dinner certificate to Chops Grille in Kingston. Ms. Whittaker has 27 years of school bus driving experience and drives for Ethan Allen Transportation. She was nominated by the Kingston City School District.
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Deputy Sheriff Deborah Prusack received the Charles Schaller Award recognizing her service and dedication to Ulster County and traffic safety and was awarded a dinner certificate to Ecce Terra in Kingston.
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Linda Leskody and Edward Wakeley received Certificates from the Mid-Hudson Transportation Supervisors Association for their outstanding bus driving performance. Ms. Leskody drives in the Rondout Central School District and Mr. Wakeley drives in the Kingston Central School District and each have over twenty years of school bus driving experience and are employed through Arthur F. Mulligan, Inc.
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NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law provides: · It is illegal to pass a stopped school bus when the large red lights located on top of the bus are flashing. Flashing lights mean the bus is picking up or discharging students. · You must stop whether you are approaching the school bus from the front or overtaking it from the rear. · You must always stop for flashing red lights, even on divided and multilane highways and on school grounds. · The first-time fine for illegally passing a school bus is a $250 to $400 fine, 5 points on your license, and/or possibly 30 days in jail. Penalties for passing a stopped school bus include: $$ -- FINES -- $$
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Operation Safe Stop is a cooperative project supported by the New York State Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, New York State Education Department, New York Association for Pupil Transportation, New York State School Bus Contractors Association, student transportation industry and state, county, city and local law enforcement agencies.
Pictured below (from left): 1) Gary Mulligan, Former Owner of Arthur F. Mulligan, Inc.; Andrea Whittaker, Ulster County School Bus Driver of the Year; and Deputy County Executive Robert Sudlow. 2) Deputy Sheriff Deborah Prusack.
