No One Likes to Get Stuck Behind a School Bus, but...
Good day to All,
Some of you may have already seen this article so I hesitated in sending it for obvious reasons as it isn’t anything someone would want to read about, ever let alone twice. The need to bring attention to this daily happening has trumped all reservations and I just want to bring to light the fact that these kinds of things happen every day, in every town, in every corner of the country where students ride school buses. No address is exempt.
I have been in the transportation industry for many years. The changes to vehicle construction, safety equipment, traffic rules, and driver training regulations have been immense. Most have been initiated by the loss of money and or life.
Despite the changes, tragedies such as this continue to happen. Worse, the numerous close calls are not attention grabbers for the media. Something about the shock factor not being enough possibly?
Motorists don’t just pass our red lights coming toward us, they come up from behind and go around us. Quite possibly the scariest is when they come to right hand side of our buses from behind and actually hit the opened doors of the bus while we as drivers have a child held back by the collar of their shirt/coat to stop them from stepping out because we can see what is about to happen in our right side mirrors. Picture it for a moment. It’s not for the faint of heart.
I have school bus camera video of a child who was coming toward the bus to board and at the very last instant the girl saw the car coming and stopped walking just in time so that the car came between her and the opened doors of the bus only being struck in the foot.
It is evident that the general population feel that the 40 foot, bright yellow vehicle with an 18” red stop sign and flashing red lights is merely a suggestion of caution. With that being said, think for a brief moment of all the children in your lives that ride a school bus. Reach out to them, their parents or anyone that might listen and share a word of caution about the moments in their day when they are getting on or off a school bus and tell them to expect the unexpected. Make sure they are alert at those times. Trust me, as a school bus driver who speaks with school bus drivers every day this tragedy is one of our worst fears.
School bus drivers are trained and tested on reminding students to look at the bus driver for a gesture of assurance in the form of a thumbs up before the students step into the road. Drivers are reevaluated annually by an instructor ride along to assure that this is happening. Breaking through to a student that has ear buds in, looking down at their electronic device with a hood pulled over their heads are deaf and blind to what is going on around them.
Our drivers here at the school have all had conversations this week with their students on their routes. We do as much as we can to keep them safe. Please help us help them by having conversations with students that you know about bus safety whether in a classroom or at your own supper table. Talk , talk, talk…in this case it will never be too much.
Have a safe enjoyable weekend everyone,
Sally
Sally Sepuka
Transportation Coordinator
Transportation Coordinator
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