HEADLINES


School Bus Simulator Keeps it Real for Arizona Driver Training


By Art Gissendaner Arizona school districts have broken new ground in bus driver


preparation by using cross-over technology similar to that used to train drivers of emergency and high-profile commercial vehicles. Te Arizona School Risk Retention Trust, Inc. (known as the


Trust) is a self-insurance pool of public school districts and community colleges that has invested more than $300,000 in a mobile, four-panel school bus simulator that exposes bus drivers to road conditions and traffic situations as valid as the simulators that prepare firefighters, EMTs, law enforcement and mass transit bus drivers.


Arizona’s school bus simulator provides cutting-edge training for drivers.


“Te simulator is a great training mechanism,” says Trust Board


President Clyde Dangerfield. “We are always interested in loss control and helping districts create safer environments for stu- dents. We’ve seen a significant improvement in safety statewide over the last couple years. Te simulator may not be totally re- sponsible for that, but it has had something to do with it.” Te simulator has been in use less than two years and has al-


ready paid for itself in insurance cost savings and loss prevention. “We estimated the initial savings over 10 years,” added David


Frandsen, loss control manager for the Trust. “It more than paid for itself in the first year alone.” Frandsen was also hesitant to attribute all the reductions solely to the simulator but said he and others strongly believe


24 School Transportation News Magazine January 2011


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