SPECIAL REPORT
on board and all that entails before going out on long trips,” said Erwin. She added, “Te best training in the world cannot stop that which is in unstoppable. All we can do is the very best we can and hope and pray it’s enough.”
THE SEAT BELT DILEMMA Like many fatal accidents in the past, the
inevitable debate for and against seat belts on school buses comes up, even in instances where they would have failed to deter the actual fatality. Te Missouri crash is one example. Another occurred in June, when Ohio witnessed its first fatality on a school bus in more than 45 years. A 6-year-old boy
died after his bus struck a utility pole and left the roadway. Within days, a bill was res- urrected in the state legislature that would require three-point, lap/shoulder restraints on all school buses by 2014. Te same re- action occurred after
the fatal accident
in Connecticut in January 2010. Both bills failed to pass, though Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell did create a new DMV program to help school districts pay for purchasing new school buses lap/shoulder belts. “I’m not sure about seat belts,” said
Bob Engel, transportation supervisor for Northwest Local School District in Cin- cinnati. “One fatality in almost 50 years, and a seat belt may not have helped. I hope I never have to address any fatality on my shift. We try endlessly to preach safety to our drivers.”
school buses can run 70 or 75 miles an
❝
hour on the highway, and these drivers are running the speed limit when they’re
paid by the hour ❞ – Dick Fischer
In central Kansas, Bill Froese of
McPherson Unified School District 418 said he agrees with the Kansas State De- partment of Education’s position that school bus transportation is still one of the safest forms of transportation, even without seat belts. “I believe that is probably why no
legislation has taken place on the issue yet,” said Froese. “Te Missouri situation was an accident which is inevitable. In my opinion, accidents will happen, but I don’t believe there is a correlation to ac- tivity trips. Te road is the road whether it is regular routes or an activity trip. Ac- cidents can happen anywhere.” ■
42 School Transportation News Magazine October 2010
Oct10_STN.indb 42 9/14/10 12:18 PM In some states,
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