impaired … there is no gray area,” he said. With 10,000 school bus drivers in the state, he said he knows that more drivers will test positive, but added that just because drivers might test positive, doesn’t mean that they were driving while impaired and risking the lives of children. Other NASDPTS sessions included an update on the 16th National Congress on School Transportation. Just recently NASDPTS announced Murrell Martin of Utah as the new steering committee chair for the NCST, sched- uled for May 2015. Attendees also heard a panel discussion on alternative fuel school vehicles by four transportation directors, with each presenter discussing one type of alternative fuel, as well as a session on the driver distraction regulations in West Virginia presented by Ben Shew, West Virginia state director of pupil transportation. Shew announced in July he is retiring from the state Department of Education at the end of this month, which also coincides with the end of his term on the NASDPTS Executive Board as re- gional director South. Utah’s Martin will replace Shew as steering committee chair.


IMPACTFUL DOCUMENTARY, SESSIONS DURING NAPT


One thing is certain about the new documen-


tary “Impact: After the Crash” that was screened Sunday morning for NAPT and NASDPTS members during a joint general session. It is powerful and tugs at heartstrings. One part anti-drunk driving and another an


exploration of the psychological, not to mention physical, effects of overcoming Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and forgiveness, the movie about the May 14, 1988, Carrollton, Ky., church bus crash, written and produced by Daniel Blake Smith and directed by Jason Epstein, undoubt- edly will moisten the eyes of viewers, especially student transporters and any parent. Of the 27 fatalities, 24 were children ranging


in age from nine to 19. Ray Kroll, who was NAPT president at the time of the crash, openly wept as he stood before the assem- bled audience and the filmmakers during the post-screening Q&A with Blake Smith and fellow producer David Geary. Kroll recalled the worst drunk-driving-related crash in U.S. history and stories he read at the time of the students on board. “We need to get this (documentary) out to


everyone we can,” Kroll implored of the audience, adding that he plans to use it in his curriculum when working with DWI offenders in his home state of Minnesota. For many school bus professionals, the head-


on collision between a pick-up truck driven the wrong way on Interstate 71 by Larry Mahoney and a fully loaded bus transporting children home from an all-day excursion at the King’s Island Amusement Park in Mason, Ohio, was not only a horrific drunk-driving tragedy but also a hallmark event that forever changed school bus safety. While, again, the bus in question that fatal night was a retired school bus used by the local church, that nuance is lost in the film. Grant- ed, that’s not the purpose of the documentary distributed by EPICC Films. For a wider audience, a school bus is a school


bus, regardless of how it is specifically used. Te film also glosses over the safety improvements that were born as a result. While pointing out that the Carrollton church bus was manufac- tured eight days before the April 1, 1977, fed- eral school bus standards went into effect, and that manufacturer Ford Motor Company opted to not install a steel cage around the gasoline tank, no mention is made of the nine emer- gency exits now required in Kentucky — more than any other state and surpassing the federal requirement.


Also lost in the movie is that the evacuation out the rear emergency door was bottlenecked by


Left: Utah State Director Murrell Martin updates attendees on the 16th National Congress on School Transportation. Above: Donny Bynum, superintendent of schools for Dale County in Alabama, discusses his experience with the events of the Midland City tragedy involving the death of school bus driver Charles Poland, Jr.


a cooler in the aisle. Four years later, NHTSA also revised FM-


VSS 217 that increased the number of emer- gency exits for larger-capacity buses, established requirements for window retention and how wide they open, and improved access to side emergency doors. Kentucky now requires a stronger frame and


roof to resist crumpling on impact and rollover, high-backed seats; extra seat padding; a fuel system that slows leaks; flame-retardant seats and floors; reflective tape on all emergency exits; and strobe lights on the exterior. “Impact” recounts that Mahoney, though having a BAC of 2.5 times more than the legal limit, was only sentenced to 16 years in prison. He served 10. Te movie does talk about the $40 million set- tlement Ford reached with some of the victims’ families, as well as the work of Karolyn Nun- nalee, who lost her daughter Patty in the fire and later went on to become president of M.A.D.D. It also details how Nunnalee and her husband offered to settle with Ford separately for only $1. In exchange, the automaker would be required to recall all pre-1977 school buses. Ford refused. Te movie also spends a great deal of time


interviewing survivors of the crash, as well as investigators who to this day struggle with the scenes on the school bus that they encountered. “Impact” will be available for sale on Amazon. com starting this Friday, said Blake Smith, who


OCT 18-24, 2013 • THE SHOW REPORTER 7


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