Michael C. Hout will be a featured speaker at STN EXPO West
CSN
Posted On June 29, 2026
The Child Safety Network™ (CSN) is proud to announce that CSN Board Member Dr. Michael C. Hout, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research, Cognitive Science, at New Mexico State University, will be a featured speaker at STN EXPO West on July 12, 2026, at 3:15 PM.
Presented by School Transportation News (STN), STN EXPO West is one of the nation’s premier conferences dedicated to advancing student transportation safety, operational excellence, emerging technology, and industry leadership. This year’s EXPO will take place in Reno, NV, from July 9–15.
Each school day, nearly 25 million students rely on approximately 500,000 school buses to travel safely to and from school. While school buses remain the safest form of ground transportation for children and young people, the danger students face when boarding and exiting the bus continues to be a major concern. Across the United States, illegal passing violations by motorists remain a persistent and potentially deadly threat.
National estimates suggest that tens of millions of illegal school bus passing incidents occur annually, despite laws requiring motorists to stop when a school bus displays flashing red lights and an extended stop sign.
To help address this ongoing safety challenge, CSN recently appointed Dr. Hout as its Chief Scientific Investigator. A nationally recognized expert in visual cognition, attention, perception, and memory, Dr. Hout brings decades of research experience to the study of human behavior and decision-making. His work focuses on how individuals interpret complex visual environments, process information under pressure, and make rapid decisions in real-world situations—precisely the cognitive processes involved when drivers encounter a stopped school bus.
During his STN EXPO West session, Dr. Hout will explore not only the scope of the illegal passing problem but also how the student transportation industry can better understand and address it. Rather than viewing all violations through a single lens, his presentation will examine the potential differences among drivers who illegally pass school buses. Are violations primarily caused by distraction, misperception, misunderstanding of traffic laws, cognitive overload, or deliberate risk-taking? What can science tell us about the individuals behind these incidents, and how can those insights help create more effective prevention strategies?
Drawing from research methods that include eye-tracking analysis, behavioral science, and controlled simulation studies, Dr. Hout will discuss how data-driven approaches can help identify patterns among illegal passers and inform future safety initiatives. His session is designed to encourage industry leaders, transportation directors, law enforcement professionals, safety advocates, and policymakers to think beyond enforcement alone and consider how education, engineering, technology, and behavioral science can work together to improve student safety.
Attendees can expect practical takeaways, thought-provoking discussion, and a framework for future research that may help shape the next generation of school bus safety campaigns. Dr. Hout will also address opportunities to develop targeted public awareness efforts that improve compliance with stop-arm laws and foster a greater understanding of the risks students face in the school bus loading zone.
“Protecting children requires more than identifying a problem—it requires understanding why the problem exists,” said Ward Leber, Founder and Chairman of Child Safety Network™. “Dr. Hout’s expertise gives us an opportunity to apply science to one of the most pressing safety issues in student transportation. At Child Safety Network™, we believe that effective safety solutions should be grounded in evidence, informed by research, and measured by outcomes. His presentation will challenge attendees to think differently about illegal passing violations and how data-driven, evidence-based interventions can be developed, evaluated, and implemented to reduce risk and better protect children.”
CSN is honored to support STN EXPO West and its mission of bringing together transportation professionals, industry partners, technology innovators, and safety advocates to improve outcomes for students nationwide.
About STN: The conference continues to serve as a leading forum for collaboration, education, and the exchange of ideas that help shape the future of student transportation. Join Child Safety Network™ and School Transportation News at STN EXPO West on July 12 as Dr. Michael C. Hout shares a scientific perspective on one of the most important challenges facing student transportation safety today.
