Like many of you, I'm a parent. I put my daughter, Nelia, on a school bus every day. As a father, not just as the Transportation Secretary, but as a father, I expect her to arrive at the school, and to return home, safely, just like the other 24 million children who ride the bus every year. And I assume that somebody is responsible to make sure that happens. Everybody in this room fits into that category.
Public safety is a team effort.
It involves all levels of government, federal, state, and loca, safety officials like you, parents and railroads, all working together. Today, I have two points to make. First, I want to discuss the progress we've made to improve highway-rail crossings in the last year. And second, I want to briefly discuss the new school bus driver education program. Shortly after the Fox River Grove accident, I created the Railroad Grade Crossing Safety Task Force to develop recommendations to help prevent tragedies like this from happening again.