Welcome to Skagit County

May 8, 2002

SKAT BUS TO BE "WRAPPED" IN "SHARE THE ROAD" GRAPHICS THANKS TO COOPER JONES ACT

Cooper's parents to attend unveiling, Tuesday, May 14, at 10:00 a.m.

SKAGIT COUNTY - Grieving parents sometimes have an opportunity to turn personal tragedy into an action that has a positive impact. That's what David and Martha Jones did when their 13-year-old son Cooper was fatally injured when hit by a car while riding his bicycle on a Spokane street. Cooper's mother was on duty in the ER when he was rushed to the hospital, where he died three days later.

Cooper's parents contacted the Washington Traffic Safety Commission and with the Commission's assistance worked to promote the passage of the Cooper Jones Act, which the Washington State Legislature passed into law in 1998. This act is designed specifically to promote bicycle and pedestrian safety programs through public/private partnerships.

One of these partnerships was the development of a Cooper Jones bus - a public transit bus that is completely "wrapped" in graphics with a powerful "Share the Road" message. Only five of these buses would be made available in the state of Washington.

The third bus in this series will soon be running on Skagit Transit's routes, and on Tuesday, May 14, this bus will be unveiled in a special ceremony that will be conducted at 10:00 a.m., in the Doc Richeson Training Room at the 911 Center in Mount Vernon. Cooper's parents will be attending this event.

Following the unveiling ceremony, this bus will join the rest of Skagit Transit's fleet and will be rotated throughout the system's routes in order to gain maximum exposure for this important "Share the Road" message.

The bus that has received the Cooper Jones wrap is a 35-foot unit that was already part of Skagit Transit's system. The cost to cover production of this bus is a three-way funding partnership between GM Nameplate, the company producing the graphics and doing the bus wrap, the Washington Traffic Commission and the Skagit County EMS Council.

For further information, contact: Don McKeehen
Skagit County Traffic Safety Coordinator
360-419-3463