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Hands-Free All the Way Even with all the laws, mandates and rules surrounding dis-
tracted driving, there are still those who find it necessary to text while driving, a skill that should not be practiced, let alone mas- tered. To aid those who cannot wait to tap out a message in 100 characters or less, a company by the name of
iSpeech.org has developed a smartphone application that reads texts and e-mails out loud to drivers and automatically responds to them. Te pro- gram automatically lets the senders know that the person they are attempting to text or e-mail is driving and cannot respond. Visit
www.drivesafe.ly to download a free version of the app for your BlackBerry, iPhone, Android or Windows Mobile cell phone.
Keeping Up on Our FAQs Never ones to rest on our laurels, we’ve been updating our “frequently asked ques-
tions” section of STNonline to refresh some of our information concerning seat belts on school buses. With the upcoming deadline on mandated restraints on Type A buses and the recent push to require them in states like Connecticut, STN has revamped some of the information to give our readers a clearer picture of the requirements and costs related to seat belts on school buses. Head over to stnonline. com/faqs to answer your questions about seat belts and more. For an alternate per- spective on the subject, read “Why the National Congress on School Transportation Should Endorse Seat Belts on School Buses,” a white paper by NAPT State and Na- tional Associations Council Chair David Peterson supporting the inclusion of seat belts on school buses at
www.stnonline.com/go/578.
IMMI Engineers Win for Seat Jump online and read about how six engineers took the concept of school
bus passenger compartmentalization and combined it with the comfort of a motorcoach seat. Seat manufacturer IMMI was able to re-engineer its SmartFrame technology used in its school bus seats and created the Pre- mier seat to give motorcoach passengers the combined safety of seat belts and compartmentalization in one package. Te team of IMMI workers were honored in April when they were presented with the 2009 Henry Ford II Distinguished Award for Excellence in Automotive Engineering at the SAE World Congress. To read more, visit
www.stnonline.com/go/569.
NASDPTS Has Issues with Parade No, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services didn’t protest the recent
rash of St. Patrick’s Day parades around the country, but the group did have a problem with the way Parade Magazine called into question how safe school buses really are without seat belts. After the article “Are School Buses Unsafe” was published at the end of March, NASDPTS President Charlie Hood wrote to Parade Executive Editor Lamar Graham, stating that the article “may mislead parents into believing school buses are unsafe, when the exact opposite is true.” For a full recap of the NASDPTS response, visit
www.stnonline.com/go/570.
8 School Transportation News Magazine May 2010
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