throughout the year, it is important to protect young children from aggressive drivers and preventable traffic injuries, and it is especially necessary to exercise caution during the school year when, each day, an estimated 50,000 motorists illegally pass stopped school buses in New York State; and

  New York State traffic data from the past four years indicates that, among school-age children, there were four deaths and 75 injuries caused by motorists who passed stopped school buses — and this dangerous issue is the major concern and focus of "Operation Safe Stop" — an education and enforcement program sponsored by New York State and its local government partners; and

  "Operation Safe Stop" helps inform motorists, school bus operators, law enforcement agencies, school administrators and the general public about dangers that children encounter as they approach and depart from school buses and school bus stops; and

  this program is a cooperative project supported by State entities — including the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, the Departments of Motor Vehicles, Education and Transportation, the Division of State Police — and non-government groups, including the New York State Association of Pupil Transportation, the New York State School Bus Contractors Association, and state, county, city and local law enforcement agencies; and

  it is important to emphasize the need for motorists to show caution throughout the year when approaching school buses and other passenger buses, and to remind motorists that they should be prepared to stop on school grounds and on all roadways — including while driving on either side of a divided highway, whenever a school bus displays flashing yellow lights — and come to a complete stop whenever a bus displays flashing red lights; and

  it is fitting for every New Yorker to support this observance and to work toward its valuable goals by making a diligent effort to exercise safety and caution with regard to children and the school buses that carry them;

 I, David A. Paterson, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim April 23, 2009 as