Illustration by Yuda Chen Those of us in the pupil transportation community who have been working to perfect the process of loading and unloading students at school bus stops for the past 40 years or so have been wildly successful, but is there more room for improving safety?
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Today, the annual number hovers around 10, even though the total number of students transported has more than doubled. This accomplishment has been a joint effort of school bus driver and student training and equipment improvements.
Google Maps will soon make sure you don't miss your stop - SlashGear
Efforts to change the behavior of other motorists have not been so successful. School buses are equipped with stop arms, crossing gates, improved mirror systems, eight-light warning systems, and radically redesigned hoods that create exceptional visibility. Often the child misses the bus because he or she is late to the stop or the driver is early. The only counsel I have seen is direction to the driver to not back up at the stop, but to instead go around the block. Backing has obvious dangers, but it has not been a part of any of the scenarios I have become familiar with.
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Going around the block can be a simple solution in some areas, but it can be very complicated in many situations. In the cases for which I was an expert witness, students were struck by another motorist. The three variations that lead to such a crash are: The student rushing to the next stop For the student rushing to another school bus stop who is struck crossing a road, there needs to be a plan for her to get to school if she misses the bus, because it is her fear of missing the bus that is making her abandon her normal pedestrian skills.
Of course, this means the school also has to have a plan. Is there a number that can be called to have a bus swing back by and pick up the student? Has that number been disseminated to parents and students?
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What are your policies and procedures for this situation? If children miss the bus regularly, then conversations need to take place and consequences need to be enforced.
The driver returning to the stop The second scenario is the most common. The school bus goes by the stop because the child is not at the stop, or because the driver forgot to make the stop, and then the driver goes back. If the driver can go around the block and re-approach the stop from the same direction, the probability of success is highest, because what the student observes as the bus approaches is the same as what he normally sees.
If the school bus driver returns in the opposite direction rather than going around the block because of distance or a major obstacle like a river or railroad tracks — or because their route takes them back down the same road in the opposite direction — then the stop situation is reversed. This could put the student at serious risk, especially if this road is not safe for students to cross due to heavy traffic and multiple lanes. One of the most common stops that drivers make up is to allow a student to cross the road and get on the bus when it is coming back toward school, even though the transportation department has carefully routed the bus stop to take place on the way out so that the student can board without crossing.
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Another thing drivers might do is create a makeup stop to serve the children in a neighborhood. When a situation like this results in a tragedy, what generally comes out during the process of the investigation is that this was not the first time. This is a plan that has been implemented many times before. Drivers and students knew about it, parents might have been aware of it, but the person sitting behind the desk in the transportation office is seldom aware of what is transpiring.
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You, the transportation director, had no idea. Drivers need to be trained to understand the risk of the unstable situation that is created by returning to a stop in a different way. Students need to understand that there will be a way for them to get to school, and running into the road or running after a departing bus puts them at incredible risk.
Until you have a plan and everyone understands the plan, the unsettling experience of missing the bus can create a moment of panic that will not end well. You have to realize that nobody can bring back those good feelings but yourself. Find what makes you miss your past; find some people that can bring the same or even better happiness than those people who have already gone, find new places that make your heart beats faster because of a new excitement, and find your real passions so you have something to do instead of mourning your current life.
I know those memories are your comfort zones; those good old days are your forever shelter to feel secure and happy. But you need to realize that those people, those people who have already gone, can live without you happily; and you can do it too. At the end of the day, you have two choices in love — one is to accept someone just as they are and the other is to walk away. Sign up for the Thought Catalog Weekly and get the best stories from the week to your inbox every Friday.
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