Hi Tom,

Good message. The industry has reason to be proud of its accomplishments. However, with school district budgets being slashed to the bone, I get concerned about possible cuts in driver training and the impact that might have on loading and unloading safety. You're right, complacency is not an option, especially in these economically challenging times.

Keep up the good work!

Best,
Steve

Why aren't front bumper cross bars required on all school buses? Also, for 15 years of practicing evacuation drills never have we used the rear door exit because it's to dangerous, so why haven't school buses solved this problem?

Thanks, Walter

I found your article interesting. After reading it, I Googled "record of school bus loading/unloading fatalities", and found an article on "School Transportation News" entitled "Loading and Unloading". (http://www.stnonline.com/stn/data_statistics/loading_unloading.htm). While these reported fatalities are down, it may not be due to just enhancement of driver and student training, public awareness, and bus safety equipment over the years. We may have seen this statistic dwindle because reporting states seem to be in the single digits the past few years as opposed to double digits in years gone by.

Tom, Thank-you for keeping us informed. Are there numbers for the years following to date? I use this information to educate the drivers in my zone. As a trainer, I've found that all information related to safety is welcomed by my team. Again, thank-you. Michael

The entire student transportation community should be extremely proud of the accomplishments we have made in the last 35 years, but we can't let today's economic and political pressures allow us to loose sight of those accomplishments. We have come too far to start slipping backwards because of the demands we are required to deal with today. A slip for us could well be a tragedy for those we serve.

You are right complacency is out of the question. I wish that as a nation we could do more regarding children being left to die in vehicles. Since 1998 395 children have died as a result of being left alone in vehicles (hyperthermia). These numbers can be found on the National Safety Council's website. In addition there are some safety practices that parents / caregivers can use to avoid this tragedy. It is suggested that a stuffed animal be placed in the child safety seat when the child is not there then when you place the child in the safety seat you should place the stuffed animal in the front seat with you as a reminder. Now to some it seems ridiculous that parents should need any such reminder their child is in the back seat of the car, but the numbers say we must do more. The numbers also say that we, as transporters, are very fortunate that we have not had students die in or around buses based on the number of times we hear that a student was left on a school bus for hours at a time unattended or got off the bus and wandered two blocks or two miles through heavy traffic. Just needed to vent this I guess. There needs to be greater awareness. The National Safety Council's website breaks down these 395 deaths by State.

Yes we have come a long way regarding school runs, but we still have a long way to go when it comes to doing activity trips i.e. overnight camps,football teams,hockey teams,etc.. I have been a school bus driver in Ontario,Canada near Toronto for 28 years. Every time I do a charter with luggage it it usely put inbetween the rear seats and piled higher than the seats. Since these buses don't have air ride the rough ride causes the luggage to fall into the isle. Very few companies have the proper bus to do this type of charter. Every time a driver brings up the problem to management they just say do the best you can. In 2007 we have a bus catch fire on a major highway Highway 400. The driver said he pulled over as soon as he noticed smoke and then pulled over. The driver said he just made it out before the bus was engulfed in flames. Fortunately there were no passengers on this bus but if it was one of those buses carrying luggage in the rear seats with the isle blocked then the situation would have been tragic. It is time for all areas in North America to make the seating of a bus is for passenger use only. The only way these type of activity trips can be done properly is to have inside storage racks and full underbody compartments. A type D bus like this would probably be the best but no company here in the Toronto area will spend the extra money. All the companies here are just waiting for a major accident to happen. I agree that I life is too many for these companies to be taking these risks. I can refuse to do these types of trips but they will just get another driver to do it. The only way this situation will improve is for the manufactures and/or the governments to force these companies to buy the properly equipped buses to do these activity trips. Its't the extra money worth saving a life???

Thanks

Thank you so very much for being there for us all these years.

I have been in Transportation for 32 years and have seen many changes and improvements. I am presently working with our "shop," but have been in training most of my time.... sitll doing driver certification classes.

There are many reasons, training, equipment, laws, etc. that have brought about the results to where we are now. School Bus Fleet has been a big part in the journey!

Please know how much we have depended on your reports and information during these years to help get us to this point. I use your articles with regularity in our classes and information from your publication is used often in safety classes for our emplyees.

Thank you for being there! God bless you and your folks for keeping us informed and having the attitudes towards safety that you demonstrate with each issue.

Looking forward to future publications,

Ricki Shaver, Dickinson I.S.D. Transportation,
Dickinson, Texas.

(PS - We are located on the Gulf Coast - about 20 miles north of Galveston.)

Jim, if I'm interpreting your comment correctly, I think I can clarify. What that STN chart doesn't show is that nearly all states actually have been reporting -- but, as the chart does show, only a few actually have fatalities to report. For example, the 2006 report got the following responses from the 50 states and D.C.:

Number reporting fatalities -- 5
Number reporting no fatalities -- 45
Number not reporting -- 1

In 2005, there were no states that didn't report.

I hope this clarifies it.

Thanks for the clarification, Tom. I appreciate it.

Jim

Wow! amazing how easy it is for some to get off topic. The numbers show a patern and interpert how you may, pulic awarness, driver training equipment changes etc. I see it as a combination of all of these factors and more. Yet we continually see articles on motorist running stop signs, kids injured and killed as well articles on new inventions/products to deture the public from running stop signs but yet it still happens and more offten than most people think. It's a good thing that the children are more aware of the safety zone and bus rules today, again another contributing factor to the reduction in numbers over the years. I continually see the rule makers of our industry making suggestions and policies for the drivers and operators. For the topic in question there needs to be emphisis on training the public, they need to be reminded that we carry the most valuble cargo in the world; thier children. We all have the same agenda from state to state and proivince to province, get the kids to and from school as safely as possible. It would be nice to see a nation wide campaign; perhaps on billboards or radio and even TV, yes it's a lot of money but by using resources county wide it could be spread out and not such a burden on one area; no, I do not have the answer on how to accomplish this, but it sure would be nice. The only other way to get the publics attention would be to start painting the buses chartreuse green and I don't really want to go there. But for those not using a bumper arm you must look into them, it gives the driver that much extra time to see what is coming from behind and reminds the kids to take an extra look as well.

are the territories of the US included in the reporting? I'm Interested in knowing if and how this is done.

La Verne,

No the U.S. territories aren't included -- only the 50 states and D.C.