six Harford County Schools elementary students when his bus was struck by a vehi- cle that crossed the center line. Te impact sent the bus spinning into another vehicle before tipping over on its right side, pin- ning the front loading door shut. Despite a badly injured leg, Knight
and Wise
be healthy physically and mentally. Safety is our main concern and always has been.” Like many of his counterparts nation-
wide, Harrington depends on medical examinations mandated by the Depart- ment of Transportation to determine a driver’s fitness. In March, one of Har- rington’s veteran drivers, Joann Jensen, 61, struck a power pole after suffering a fatal heart attack. None of the 34 elementary students on board were injured. Harrington said Jensen was overweight and on medica- tion, but had recently passed a physical. “When she came into the shop that af-
ternoon, her supervisor said she looked a little pale. But [Jensen] assured her that she was fine,” Harrington recalls. “When [the heart attack] happened, she told stu- dents she didn’t feel well and tried to pull to a safe area on the side of the road. She didn’t quite make it.” Unlike Geraghty, not all school bus
drivers possess the “Lazarus Gene.” Like- wise, not all drivers possess the physical resiliency of 61-year-old Tomas Knight, a bus driver for BMAC Student Transport in Maryland. Last September, Knight was transporting
calmed students and crawled sideways over rows of seats in his 64-passenger bus to the rear emergency door and suc- cessfully evacuated his students, some of whom required medical attention. Knight, who underwent arthroscopic sur- gery and still receives ongoing therapy, was honored in March by local firefight- ers. So far, his injury has prevented him from returning to work. Te vulnerability of their passengers
places the health of school bus drivers near the top of the list of people carri- ers along with airline pilots. It also places transportation officials in the center ring juggling driver health with budget re- strictions, state and federal regulations, children’s safety and drivers’ rights. “Before budget issues hit, the district
sent everyone for annual DOT physical examinations,” says Armando Cuellar, transportation supervisor for the Madi- son School District in Phoenix. “Now it is every two years. Back then a majority of our bus drivers were older, retired people, and the director at the time felt it was im- portant to do annual physicals because it would keep drivers healthier and prevent any unforeseen incidents. It was more of a preventative move to catch developing medical conditions in time.” Arizona is one of a handful of states
that require a medical screening and a physical agility test for school bus drivers. “My people don’t complain about the
physical test,” Cuellar adds. “Tey know it’s part of the job. In fact, they’ve turned it into a friendly competition. Tey com- pare themselves to each other.” Tis was not the case in 2009 when
First Student introduced an agility test to its drivers in Springfield, Ill. Some said it violated their rights and grievances were threatened even though an overwhelming majority of drivers passed. First Student’s Physical Performance Dexterity Test (PPDT) is still in tact and is required ev- ery two years throughout a driver’s service
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