“Te risk of the above claims and most others can be mitigated
through good management and ongoing training,” said Silvestro. “Te best advice I can give student transportation or business man- agers who are preparing to buy insurance is to be very careful with the insurance company you choose — if they don’t specialize in school bus transportation, you could pay much more in the long run.” Randy O’Neill, senior VP of Lancer Insurance Co., said the most fre-
quent school bus claims he sees involve buses rear-ending vehicles, striking parked vehicles and sideswiping fixed objects like utility poles. For every major risk school transportation officials face, he explained, there must be a mitigation plan. For driver distraction, he recom- mended banning handheld cell phone use and eating and drinking while driving. For driver fatigue, he suggested a behavior manage- ment plan that addresses sleep apnea, nutrition and overall wellness. “Te best advice for a school district or a school bus contrac-
tor is to use deductibles for both liability and collision or physical damage coverages,” O’Neill said. “Manage and reduce predict- able claims within the deductible and only transfer the severe and catastrophic type exposures to your insurer. Te savings real- ized on annual premiums are significant.” Jeff Carlson, executive VP of Capacity Coverage Co. of New
Jersey, agreed that “rear-enders” are the most common and expensive claim from school bus companies, with pedestrian ac- cidents being the next most costly claim.
“Te law in every state requires the company involved to pay for
the medical bills of any pedestrian, bicyclist, etc., regardless of fault,” Carlson said. “Ten the claimant has the right to sue and, in most cases, has in their favor the presumed responsibility of a driver to drive slowly, carefully and in regard for any and all pedestrians.” Carlson, also the managing general agent for the Hartford School
Bus Program, said companies partnering with GreenRoad driver per- formance and safety management have experienced more favorable pricing, and those companies’ claims have dropped “significantly.” Driv- ers are monitored for speed, braking, idling and other behaviors. “I’m doing a renewal for a client and looking at their loss re-
cord five years ago, before this system was put in — it’s like night and day. Tat’s another tool we offer to help student transporters minimize their accidents,” he said. Rick Shaw, CEO of Awareity, said the company’s Web-based
software platform, TIPS (Treat Assessment, Incident Manage- ment and Prevention Services) is a valuable reporting tool that can help school districts track everything from driver error to student violence. “It helps them to follow up, follow through and prevent incidents as opposed to just react,” he added. “You’re going to have a pop, no doubt about it, no matter how
good you are. Every client, in a 10-year period, has a half-million dollar claim due to human error,” concluded Carlson. “Tat’s why we have insurance.” ■
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