INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS: NEWS BRIEFS
INCREASING SAFETY, EFFICIENCY WITH GPS AND ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS Attendees of a free STN webinar on Oct.
3 heard case studies from two school districts that have had marked success in implement- ing GPS tracking solutions and smartphones for instant communication. Sponsored by AT&T, the webinar included Pat Mitchell of Mobile County (Ala.) Public Schools and Craig Radtke of Boerne ISD in Texas.
Tey joined AT&T's John Moscatelli to discuss how technology is making operations safer and more efficient. Mitchell oversaw the implementation of mobile resource manage- ment (MRM) using Actsoft from AT&T that monitors bus speed and location, engine alerts, hard braking, fuel consumption and ignition status via GPS. It can also re-route the buses
around local accidents and traffic jams. “Now we can punch in a bus number and find out where the bus is in near real-time,” Mitchell added. “If the driver deviates from the route, we are able to see that, too.” Actsoft from AT&T also can help with navigating bad-weather situations. View the webinar at
www.stnonline.com/webcasts.
STUDY FINDS OTHER DRIVERS CAUSE MOST SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENTS IN NEW YORK
"Built to withstand the elements"
After analyzing three years’ worth of
bus-related traffic records in New York state, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle had some good news for the school bus industry: Te majority of school bus acci- dents there are caused by other motorists. While the researchers tallied more than 3,900 bus-related accidents between July 2010 and May 2013 statewide, the term “accidents” encompasses passen- gers bruised by hard braking and minor fender-benders, as well as more serious crashes. Tere were 2,783 actual crashes in that time frame. Of that total, 1,540 (or 55 percent)
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were considered “preventable.” Of these accidents, 119 (or 4 percent) involved school bus drivers who were either “dis- tracted” or displayed “poor judgment.” STN analysis of the 369 accidents
occurring from January to May of this year found that the most common type of school-bus crash involved other vehicles rear-ending a stopped bus or attempting to pass a bus halted at a stop sign, signal or bus stop. Tis comes as no surprise to Peter
Mannella, executive director of the New York Association for Pupil Transporta- tion, who expressed that the organization is extremely proud of the safety record of its members. He credited the state’s structured driver training, examination and professional development programs, as well as its vehicle inspection and pre- ventive maintenance systems. “We have frequently pointed out that
we do all that is humanly possible to ensure safe vehicles, prepared and able drivers, safe routes and timely training ... and the data bears our points dramatical- ly,” Mannella said.
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