NHTSA Acting Administrator Rosalyn G. Millman said, "The United States has an outstanding pupil transportation safety record because state and federal officials and the school bus industry constantly work together to minimize risks. We always err on the side of caution, giving parents and caregivers information they need to make their child's trip to and from school as safe as humanly possible."
"Over the past decade, the designs of childrens' clothing and other items they carry have changed, causing unnecessary fatalities and injuries when they became entangled. School bus manufacturers initiated recalls to reconfigure handrails and other equipment to prevent problems. But, the most effective way to prevent problems is for parents and caregivers to ensure that children do not wear or carry anything likely to become entangled," she said.
NHTSA first expressed concern in 1993 about the entanglement of clothing in school bus handrails and issued several consumer warnings. The safety agency investigated the handrail designs of all major school bus manufacturers and nine subsequently conducted safety recalls to make the handrails in their buses less prone to snagging incidents.
The manufacturers took these actions even though the safety problem was with the clothing children were wearing, not the handrail designs that had been in use for many incident-free years. As a result of separate investigations by the Consumer Product Safety Commission of problems with clothing snagging on playground equipment and fences, clothing manufacturers developed industry standards for drawstrings on childrens' clothing.
Snagging incidents in school buses have declined, but in 1997 a Maryland girl was dragged after a drawstring snagged, as was a Rhode Island girl in 1998 when her backpack became wedged in the handrail. Fortunately, neither was injured seriously.
Millman and Martin urged school bus fleet operators to make sure that the necessary repairs were made to older buses and keep awareness about this problem high by emphasizing it during school bus driver training.
"Before pulling away from each stop, drivers should look at the closed exit door carefully and then use their outside mirrors to look again to make sure a child is not still attached to the bus," Martin said.
The handrails, also called grab rails, are located inside school buses, sometimes on both sides of the step well. Snagging occurs when something gets wedged between the body of the bus and the lower end of the handrail or in the door itself. School bus manufacturers have designed simple remedies that fill the gap to prevent the likelihood of snagging.
According to Martin, the big yellow school bus is one of the safest forms of transportation in the U.S. and fatal incidents involving school buses are rare events. He credits the industry's stellar safety record to its vigilance in alerting parents and school officials to even potential problems; the sheer size of the school bus that gives it an advantage in all but the most severe crashes; extensive federal safety requirements that exceed those for other passenger vehicles; and the skill, special licensing requirements and training of school bus drivers.
Each year, about 440,000 public school buses travel 4.3 billion miles, transporting 23.5 million school children. Over the past ten years, an average of nine school-age children died as occupants of school buses, and 22 were killed as pedestrians struck while getting on or off the bus (including those who were killed in snagging incidents).
http://sbi.elitedecision.com]]>Serioushttp://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=132Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:05:33 -0400"Back-to-School" Means Much Greater Safety Risks For Children Who Don't Ride the School Bus
http://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=131
A recent survey conducted by the research firm Wirthlin Worldwide, found that about one-third of respondents believed that driving their children themselves was the safest way for children to get to and from school – but statistics prove otherwise.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), between 1987 and 1997, the number of school-aged children killed in passenger cars on a weekday during school hours compared to children killed while riding a school bus during the same hours was 80 to 1*.
Almost half of those surveyed believed that alternate means of getting to and from school, whether is was walking, riding a bike, a student driving a student or an adult driving a student, were safer then riding a school bus. "The cruel irony here," said Dr. Dee Alsop, Senior Researcher for Wirthlin Worldwide, "is that those parents who thought they were doing the most to ensure their children's transportation safety were actually putting their children at greater risk."
A modern school bus (those manufactured after April 1, 1977) must meet more Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards than any other vehicle on the road. The size of the school bus alone gives it an important advantage in all but the most catastrophic circumstances, since larger, heavier vehicles provide excellent protection to their occupants.
In addition to school bus design and equipment considerations, school bus transportation requires numerous other measures to help to ensure the safety of children who ride a school bus. For example, school bus drivers must hold a special license, called a Commercial Driver's License (CDL), that is required by the Federal Highway Administration. NHTSA has also developed driver training for both new and experienced drivers, as well as maintaining the School Bus Driver Instructional Program which provides pupil transportation managers with educational materials to teach core skills to school bus drivers.
When survey respondents were told that school buses were indeed the safest form of transportation for children traveling to and from school, 35% said school bus transportation had the greatest need of funding over teacher salaries, repairing existing schools, text books, enrichment/cultural activities and building new schools. According to Martin of the School Bus Information Council, "As school budgets continue to shrink, all too often the first thing cut is pupil transportation – and the safety ramifications of such cuts are not fully appreciated. Parents need to be given all of the safety facts when it comes to children's safety – whether its their safety at school or their safety in getting to and from school."
*Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and "School Bus Safety: Safe Passage for America's Children"
http://sbi.elitedecision.com]]>Serioushttp://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=131Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:01:19 -0400Bus Transportation Guide
http://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=130
I thought I would share this. It's fairly standard for most school systems
Tahoe Truckee Unified School District Bus Transportation Guide 2008/09
The following information is provided to acquaint you with the rules, regulations and responsibilities involved in student transportation. Your cooperation will help considerably in transporting your child.
“Supporting student success through safe and efficient transportation.”
BUS RULES
Don’t Lose Your Riding Privilege!
1. Be courteous and respectful and follow the drivers/attendants directions.
2. Fasten seat belts and remain seated at all times.
3. Eating, drinking and chewing are not permitted.
4. Hazardous and oversized objects are not permitted. (Examples: skateboards, skis, snowboards, weapons, glass, matches, lighters, irritants and aerosols, etc.)
5. No unauthorized exits/entrances of bus. (Emergency doors or windows)
6. Keep your hands and feet to yourself and inside the bus.
7. Keep aisles and exits clear.
8. Keep noise level down. Profane language and/or gestures are prohibited.
9. Absolutely no vandalism.
10. Do not throw any objects.
11. Pets/animals are not allowed on or around the bus during loading or
unloading.BUS REFERRALS Will Be Issued For Violations Of Bus Rules
First Referral: Student warned and Parent called.
Second Referral: Suspended from the bus for three days.
Third Referral: Suspended from the bus for 10 days. Mandatory parent conference.
Fourth Referral: Suspended from the bus for remainder of school year.
Immediate suspension for threatened or actual body harm to other passengers and/or the school bus driver.
Repeated infractions will result in school bus transportation services being terminated and other transportation authorized for your child.
VANDALISM
Parents and/or students will be liable for any and all willful vandalism and/or destruction to the school bus interior and/or exterior.
BUS STOP PROTOCOL
Students are expected to act in a safe and orderly manner at designated school bus stops. Never approach the bus until it comes to a complete stop and the doors open. Students should wait safely out of roadways.
PICK-UP & DROP-OFF
Pick-up times stops are posted at sierrasun.com before the school year begins and are available on our web site ttsud.org. Students should be at their school bus stop five minutes prior to stop time. If you child is not ready the bus will proceed to the next stop. Pre-school, kindergarten and 1st grade must be supervised by an adult at pick-up and drop-off. Unauthorized adults are not allowed to board the bus.
ROUTES & CHANGES
The bus driver is not authorized to make any adjustments or changes in his/her route. Please address any changes to the transportation department. Students will not be permitted to leave the bus at any point other than their designated bus stop unless they have a note signed by their parent, guardian or school official.
UNDELIVERABLES
An “undeliverable” is a student who cannot be delivered to their bus stop because an authorized adult is not present to receive the child. A parent or authorized adult MUST be present to receive preschool, kindergarten and 1st grade students when they are delivered. If no adult is present, child will be returned to their school site. Exceptions to this policy can only be made by the District.
PROHIBITED ITEMS
Skateboards, skis, snowboards, hockey sticks, golf clubs and hazardous materials are prohibited. Materials required for class or school functions that are too large to fit on the students lap must be transported by the parent. No pets allowed.
LOST ITEMS
The TTUSD Transportation Department assumes no responsibility for lost items. Every effort will be made to locate such items and return them to their rightful owner. In the event of lost items, please check with school, bus driver and the transportation department.
SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION
The following applies to Special Needs Students. Illness/Absences: Notify the transportation department if your child is ill. If your child is absent in the a.m. and requires p.m. transportation please notify transportation by 9 a.m. at 550-0745. Temporary changes are not accepted. An authorized adult must be present at the designated bus stop at pick-up & drop-off times.
Long term changes must be arranged 10 days in advance with the child’s teacher who will then notify the transportation department. Exceptions to this policy can only be made by the District. Absence of an authorized adult to receive a child may result in the child being returned to their school site. ]]>Serioushttp://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=130Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:45:44 -0400Fuel costs have more kids walking
http://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=128
Faced with soaring diesel fuel costs, school districts are forcing students to use the old-fashioned way to get to class: on their own two feet.
Many schools are eliminating or reducing bus service because fuel has jumped to $4.50 per gallon, 36 percent more than a year ago, and is busting budgets.In California, districts are eliminating busing for thousands of students. Districts in Washington state, Idaho and Maryland and elsewhere are consolidating bus stops, canceling field trips and forcing students to walk longer distances to school to control costs.
Worried parents in Massachusetts have called WalkBoston, a nonprofit group that promotes walking, asking for help after their communities cut back on busing.
Health advocates long have encouraged students to walk, stressing the fitness benefits. But school and transportation officials say they fear that abruptly reducing bus service could lower attendance rates, increase traffic congestion or endanger students if they cannot walk on sidewalks and crosswalks.
"If you remove a school bus from the road, you're adding 40 to 50 cars in the morning and in the afternoon," said Bob Riley, spokesman for the American School Bus Council, which represents school transportation officials.
Major cuts loom in California, where schools are not required to provide transportation to campus. As a result, districts squeezed by fuel prices and fewer state dollars are trimming millions from transportation budgets.
The Capistrano United School District in Orange County, for example, has eliminated 44 of its 62 bus routes to save an estimated $3.5 million, district spokeswoman Julie Hatchel said. The cuts will affect an estimated 5,000 students from kindergarten to high school.
Leaders in three communities served by the district have threatened lawsuits, saying school officials are ignoring traffic and pollution implications. While cutting bus service is unpopular, Hatchel said it is better than firing teachers and increasing class sizes.
"Our goal was to keep those cuts as far away from the classroom as possible," she said.
Increased fuel costs are especially punishing on large, spread-out districts. The school board in Montgomery County, Md., covers the sprawling Washington beltway. It buses 96,000 children daily and burns about 3.3 million gallons of diesel annually. Each penny per gallon increase in the diesel price means an additional $33,000 in spending.
Seeking ways to contain fuel costs, the school board has authorized its superintendent to force students to walk farther to school. The current limits now stand at one mile for elementary school students and up to two miles for high schoolers.
"What if fuel should go up by a quarter in a period of a month or two?" district spokeswoman Kate Harrison said. "We might have to have some emergency response to that."
Small towns are feeling the pinch, too. Short on cash, school officials in Shirley, Mass., a small town about 40 miles northwest of Boston, are going from eight buses to four starting this school year. Students who live within two miles of school must walk, bike or get a ride.
Parents in Shirley are worried about safety and seeking help from WalkBoston. Mary Day said her two sons will have to cross train tracks on their routes to school. To compound the problem, the town recently got rid of its crossing guards to save money.
As a single, working mother, Day said she can drop her children off at school in the morning but cannot pick them up. Her street runs parallel to train tracks and she fears her 9-year-old and 12-year-old sons will be tempted to take shortcuts by darting across the tracks outside the official crossings.
"I remember being a kid," Day said. "Are you going to walk a half-mile down the street to cross in the appropriate way when you see a clear way right there?"
Her youngest son, Quincee, isn't thrilled with the idea of walking, especially when the weather gets cold.
"I don't really like it because it takes like 20 minutes to do it," he said.
Since 2005, the federal government has spent millions of dollars on the Safe Routes to School program. While the program is designed to improve student health, school officials sometimes sign on with the secondary goal of saving money.
WalkBoston executive director Wendy Landman said school officials need to consider the consequences before reducing bus service to save money. Communities such as Shirley may need to pay for sidewalks, crosswalks or bike racks to make walking and biking safe and practical.
"When it's a panic call, they're not thinking it through in that way," she said.
When done right, schools and parents can save money.
Helen Siewers' two daughters began walking a mile to their elementary school in Bowling Green City, Ky., because their mother wanted them exercising, socializing with friends and learning to navigate their own community like she did as a child.
But she's noticed an added benefit: Her family has not spent more on gas even as fuel prices soar. It helps that Siewers and her husband also walk to work, bike to their errands and try to keep one of their two cars idle.
"We are not spending more on fuel this year because we're driving less," she said.
Quinn Ferraro, 16, of Newton, Mass., approaches a crosswalk under construction on her way to school. Associated Press]]>Serioushttp://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=128Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:35:41 -0400School bus drivers struggle to pay fuel costs
http://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=127
BATON ROUGE LA— The next time you complain about paying $40 to fill up you car, think about Calvin Latiolais and the hundreds of other school bus drivers across the state who pay about $300 to fill up a bus every three or four days."Most drivers are barely making it," said Latiolais, a Lafayette Parish driver who owns his bus and contracts with the local school board. "The price of fuel has gone down some now (just in time for the start of school) but if it goes back up, a lot of drivers won't be able to put fuel in their buses."
The state formula that funds public schools at one time had a specific allocation for bus expenses but in 1994 rolled that expense into the general cost of running schools, said Lloyd Dressell, of the Louisiana School Boards Association. Without a specific allocation, school boards decide how much they want to spend on transportation out of their general funds.
A fairly new provision in the formula provides $100 per student for boards to meet the cost of mandates imposed by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Legislature and fuel costs, but it doesn't come close to meeting all of those expenses, Dressell said.
"It was determined three years ago by surveying all the school systems at that time that we were $150 to $160 behind what was needed to meet those mandated costs," he said. The allotment has increased from the original $80 to $100 this year, "but we're still behind. It's not going to fully cover the increased cost of fuel."
Louisiana has four types of drivers, Dressell said. Some systems, like Lafayette, contract drivers who purchase and maintain their own buses, some hire people to drive system-owned buses, some parishes have a combination of contract and employee drivers and some school districts have contracted with companies that supply buses.
Latiolais said drivers are digging deep in their own pockets to pay the elevated price of fuel because "they're not going to leave kids on the side of the road." He said he knows of one driver who last year borrowed a relative's credit card to pay for fuel the last week of school.
The Lafayette Parish School Board "gives us a small adjustment but it covers just a small percentage of the increased cost," he said. "It's about a $100 fuel adjustment when we had a $600 increase."
The Louisiana School Bus Operator's Association, of which Latiolais is a district representative, asked the Legislature this year to grant school bus drivers a $1,000 raise that would have helped cover the increase cost of fuel, he said.
Instead, lawmakers granted all school support workers, including bus drivers, a one-time $1,000 bonus.
Bus drivers get paid by the mile but Latiolais said that doesn't mean every mile that they drive. They don't get paid for the distance driven from their houses to the first student pickup and they don't get paid driving home from the last school. Those "dead miles" can more than double the number of miles that they're actually paid for, he said.
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008808080313]]>Budgethttp://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=127Sat, 9 Aug 2008 13:04:24 -0400School bus fatalities in Huntsville prompt state wide action
http://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=126
NORTHPORT - Governor Bob Riley and members of the Governor's Study Group on School Bus Seat Belts will meet at Northport Elementary School on Monday, Aug. 11 to discuss the installation of seat belts on Alabama school buses.
They'll also inspect two school buses that have been equipped with seat belts.
The members of the study group will also hear a presentation by Dr. Dan Turner of the University Transportation Center for Alabama about the three-year study being conducted to examine student response to seat belts on school buses.
Governor Riley convened the study group to examine whether seat belts should be required on school buses in Alabama.
The move came in the wake of a deadly school bus crash in Huntsville on November 20, 2006.
Members of the Governor's Study Group on School Bus Seat Belts are: Dr. Mary Jane Caylor, State Board of Education; Joe Lightsey, Director of Student Transportation, Department of Education; Joe McInnes, Director of the Department of Transportation; Dr. Ann Roy Moore, Huntsville City Schools Superintendent; Dr. Joe Morton, State Superintendent of Education; and Colonel Chris Murphy, Director of the Department of Public Safety.
School officials say they are prepared to add more buses and to expand routes if they need to accommodate more children. They say many parents often choose the bus for their students after driving them to school during the first week.
Starnes said the district will have what he calls a “more streamlined route plan” this year, mainly because of the high cost of fuel and maintenance, plus a growing number of children who need transportation.Starnes said, with sky-rocketing gas prices, many parents will be putting their children on the bus rather than driving them to school.
Bus stop information is on the school district Web site and will be available two evenings next week and at all elementary school open houses, Aug. 18.
Under the previous route system, buses stopped at each door to pick up children. This year, children need to walk from their homes to new bus stops that won’t require them to cross streets.
“We designed the routes so the buses would stop at corners, where the houses are close enough together to justify letting us do this. We’ve tried to set it up to where they might have to walk a half a block at the most, but they can get on and off on the right-hand side where they don’t have to cross any traffic or streets,” he said.
Starnes said he’s gotten a few calls from parents who’ve seen the new routes on the district Web site. He said those calls were positive, after the parents got an explanation of how the new system will work.
“The district’s growing. We’re adding two new routes this year, and possibly more. We need parents’ help in trying to do this. Depending on how many busses we have to add - 60 to 65 out there twice a day - we’re trying to accommodate the parents by picking the (kids) close to where they’re at, but we’re also asking for the parents’ help by allowing their kids to walk to the corners,” said Starnes.
The additional routes were necessary this year because, Starnes said, many of the busses last year were almost filled to capacity.
“We try to keep the number of students down, somewhat, to where we have a full bus, but have a little space. When you start crowding them in there, that’s when you start having trouble,” he said.
Special-needs children, Pre-K and day-care children still will get door-to-door bus service, Starnes said.
“Our rural routes will run just like they always have. This (route change) is just in (areas) in town where it’s not a long walk to the bus stop,” said Starnes.
“Every time we don’t have to press the accelerator we’re saving fuel and our brakes will last quite a bit longer, and it becomes quite an expense because brake pads have to be changed quite often,” he said.
Starnes said certain unusual street configurations, such as cul-de-sacs, will require the drivers to make a trip down the street to pick up the students.
“We’re just asking for parents to cooperate, and if there’s several small ones that need to go to the bus stop, maybe one (parent) can walk them there, and be there when we unload them and just try to make things work smoothly,” he said.
If a parent has concerns about the bus stop location, Starnes said, he will be flexible and work with that parent.
“We know that sometimes the little ones get tromped on by the big ones, and we don’t want that. If a parent is worried about what will happen to their child, we’ll work with that,” he said.
“We’re keeping the safety of the kids first. At each stop, the driver will still be able to see the houses on each block,” said Starnes.
Transportation office personnel will be at each elementary school open house on Monday, Aug. 18, to answer questions from parents.
“We’ll also be handing out copies of the updated bus routes, Wednesday (Aug. 13) and Thursday (Aug. 14), until 7:30 p.m. at the transportation office, next to Esther Elementary, (1200 Clark Ave.). We’ll be glad to answer parents questions then, too,” said Starnes.
]]>Budgethttp://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=124Sat, 9 Aug 2008 12:54:48 -0400VIDEO: Greece Safety Town is fun with lessons
http://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=123
Fri Jul 27, 2007
Greece, N.Y. -
For a few hours last Friday, the inside of the town's Community and Senior Center was turned into a mini-race track.
There were mini replicas of the Lake Ontario State Parkway, the Greece Public Library, even a working traffic light and cross-walk signal.
Kids zoomed by on Big Wheels as they showed off the safety skills they learned as part of the week-long Safety Town program sponsored annually by Greece.
"It teaches all aspects of safety," said Jackie Gigliotta, program director.
Through it, kids, ages 4 to 6, have learned about poison, fire and water safety, among other tips, for 30-plus years. Parents who took the class have even enrolled their own children. It costs $40.
On Friday, the students graduated, wearing construction paper caps and posing for their parents. Before that, though, they got to ride a school bus.
Greece Central bus attendant trainer Barb Franklin gave the kids some rules about safe riding practices first. She told them how to crawl out the windows in case of an emergency and to always look at the driver before crossing.
Some students had answers for her questions, but the most hands shot up when she asked who wanted to go for a ride. There was a chorus of: "I do, I do, me!"
Outside, one little girl spotted her ride right away.
"There's the bus," she pointed to her friends.
On the ride around the neighborhood, students counted the stop signs they found.
"Any exposure to (bus safety) is awesome," Franklin said. "They need it. They need the safety rules over and over again."
Her daughter participated in Safety Town, too. Franklin and bus driver trainer Willy Antochi praised the students for getting off the bus while looking both ways.
Back in the center, students practiced for graduation, singing "Wheels on the Bus" and other safety songs.
Then it was time to don their caps and parade in front of their parents and family members.
Finally, the moment they waited for came. The first group got the green light to grab their bikes and start around the track. The others sat patiently and watched.
There were a few pile-ups as students waited to get on the parkway. The teen leaders grabbed the handlebars and helped the slow riders over the ramp. Then they were back to tearing up some turf.
Elijah Barnard, 5, was one of them. This was his second time in the program. He learned a lot about safety, he said, even though he already rides a school bus.
His favorite part?
"Riding the bikes," he said with a grin.
Colleen M. Farrell can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 265, or at cfarrell@mpnewspapers.com. http://www.mpnnow.com/archive/x809747296]]>Safetyhttp://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=123Sat, 9 Aug 2008 12:47:19 -0400Cheers and Jeers
http://www.manicschoolbus.com/index.php?itemid=122
Fri May 30, 2008
A JEER ... to all those motorists out there who — still — pass stopped school buses. The Syracuse school district recently mounted cameras on buses to track such incidents. They captured more than 60 drivers illegally passing stopped school buses in a six-week period.
The problem isn’t limited to Syracuse. The New York Association for Pupil Transportation invited its members to count the number of illegal passes and heard from school bus drivers in Marcus Whitman and Fairport, as well as dozens of other districts throughout the state.
A reminder: Passing a stopped school bus with its lights flashing is illegal. More important, it can be deadly dangerous to the young passengers. Don’t do it.