HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
Benish said Cook-Illinois uses a variety of video systems, but prefers vendors with a proven track record. While he said he does see video as an especially useful tool for driver au- dits because it eliminates the need for the audi- tor to ride along, he added that it’s challenging for student transportation departments to keep up with the increasing amount of technology, meet society’s demands for iron-clad evidence and absorb the accompanying price tag. “I say our name should almost be the
Knowing What’s Happening With Your Drivers
Meeting increased demand for monitoring behavior of drivers in addition to that of students, AngelTrax released a new option to the MotoTrax online surveillance tool to identify potentially dangerous actions behind the wheel. Aptly named “Driver Behavior,” the tool draws on instant alerts, algorithms and charts. Users can also download video clips of incidents and use them for statistic-driven coaching. “Instead of relying on a third party to send you only the vid- eo clips they think you ought to see, you now have access to every video clip tagged with an event marker,” said Richie Howard, president and CEO of AngelTrax. “When a fleet man- ager is coaching a driver, show- ing the actual video of their own driving habits can make all the difference between an okay driver and the new safest driver in the company.”
“We had footage, so the situation did not progress and get worse. We were able to get the authorities involved and get rid of that person. I don’t know how you do it without video,” he said. Chicas also cited the incident involving a
probationary driver whose bus was rear ended one morning. At the time, the driver reported no injuries and no damage to the bus. Later in the day, however, the driver complained of back pains attributed to the incident in an attempt to file a worker’s compensation claim. A review of the video indicated the driver and students had barely noticed the impact. “We contacted our risk management people.
A copy of the video was sent to the physician and the claim was denied,” Chicas said, who uses a system developed and maintained by Seon. “Needless to say, we did not hire that person when the probation was over. (Te video system) more than paid for itself because we would have hired a person who had filed multi- ple worker’s comp claims in the past and would have been a problem down the line.” Scott, meanwhile, told of an incident in
which a child was struck by a car and, mirac- ulously, was uninjured. When asked by his parents and police why he cut across the front of the bus and into the path of the oncoming car, the child said the bus driver signaled him to do so. Facing the possibility of a costly lawsuit, the district was able to present video evidence that showed the driver’s hands never left the steering wheel. “We have video sent to us all the time and people say, ‘Your system saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars,’” Scott said.
46 School Transportation News • MARCH 2016
Cook-Illinois School Bus and Video Compa- ny. A child goes to school six or seven hours a day and there’s no video in the classroom. Yet, they’re on the bus 30 minutes and we have to have video,” Benish said. “I’ve been driving 25 years and in the family business a lot longer. It used to be that I could pull into school, say ‘Bobby and Mary got in a fight’ and they’d take my word for it. Now, your word as a driver is no good, So, it almost has to be on video. In that sense, the camera is an advocate for the driver.” He added that, “Te question is, how many
cameras are enough? It used to be one, then two, then three or four, then outside the bus and then back-up cameras. Tat’s great, but is society willing to pay for all that? Ten you’ve got to catalog the video. It’s gotten out of hand and it’s gotten expensive.” Henkensiefken said Brainerd ISD uses the video to perform spot checks on drivers, but she added, “I’ll be honest, watching video takes time and it isn’t always easy to dedicate hours a day to watching it.”
Henkensiefken said video benefits all stu- dents and drivers, but especially Individualized Education Program students and the drivers who transport them. “We may take a look at that video and realize that a driver or bus assis- tant needs additional training. You can’t blame the driver or assistant if we haven’t given them the training they need and video sometimes helps us realize we need to do more training,” she said. Te Brainerd district also performs spot
checks of bus video and reviews specific incidents when a parent, teacher, administra- tor or driver calls attention to an incident or issue. “Video has been a big help when we get bullying reports. We’re able to resolve them quickly because everything is documented on bus reports,” Henkensiefken said. Te experts agree video coverage of an entire
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