Brittany Ingle, right, the mother of three children killed boarding a bus in Fulton County four years ago, was invited to speak at a conference in Greenwood, Miss., during National School Bus Safety Week. While there, she met with Miranda Thomas, whose son was killed while boarding a bus less than 24 hours after she saw Ingle’s story on the news. Photo provided by Brittany Ingle.

ROCHESTER — Oct. 17-21 was National School Bus Safety Week, and Brittany Ingle, the mother of three children killed while boarding a bus on SR 25 in Fulton County four years ago, was invited to speak at a conference held in Greenwood, Miss.

The invitation came from Lisa Hudson, Mississippi’s transportation director, who saw Ingle on an episode of “Inside Edition” featuring school bus safety. At the conference Ingle spoke with a gathering of bus drivers about the role they play in keeping children safe. She noted that while the driver who hit her children, Alyssa Shepherd, ignored the bus’s stop arm, there were other factors as well.

“The bus driver waved the kids over. … Several kids made it across SR 25 but my kids and a neighbor boy were hit by a pickup truck that ran the stop arm. In an instant my children were gone.”

She also made note of the bus stop itself. “We knew it was a dangerous stop. We’d complained to the school before. They refused to change our location, forcing as many as 10 or more kids to cross a rural highway in the dark each day.”

According to Ingle, Mississippi, as well as many other states, still lacks stop arm cameras, and many children still have to cross the road. “The laws are all over the place,” she commented.

So many activists around the country have taken inspiration from the MAXSTRONG School Bus Safety Act, which was passed in May 2019 in Indiana, less than eight months after three of Ingle’s four children were killed. The name combines those of Ingle’s children killed: Mason, Alivia and Xzavier.

“I’m honored to have a law in Indiana that can serve as an example for everyone else,” said Ingle. “We need to educate because that’s how people learn. … I can’t bring my kids back, but if I can help others that’s amazing.”

While at the conference Ingle also met with Miranda Thomas, who lost her son in a similar accident less than 24 hours after Ingle’s children were killed. According to Ingle, Thomas said she hugged her children tighter after seeing Ingle’s story on the news, then lost her son the same way the next day.

“We’ve stayed in contact. We’ve helped each other grieve.”

According to schoolbusfleet.com, in the 2018-19 school year, an estimated 479,867 yellow school buses provided daily transportation to students in the United States. More than 25 million children ride school buses daily throughout the United States, which accounts for 47 million trips daily before an estimated 5 million more for activity trips. Roughly 54% of all K-12 students in the United States rely on school bus transportation.

National School Bus Safety Week reminds students, parents, teachers and the community to keep school bus safety at the forefront.

Brittany Ingle, second from left, spoke at a conference held in Greenwood, Miss., during National School Bus Safety Week, which ran Oct. 17-21. Among those present were local law enforcement officers and school bus drivers. Photo provided by Brittany Ingle.