Green adds that both speeding and the
illegal passing of buses continue to pose a threat to students across the country. He points to the results of a recent Caltrans study showing that most people who vio- lated the 25-mph speed limit were aware of the school. “Most of the motoring public will not
slow down at a school site unless they perceive one of two things: if police are present or if they perceive imminent dan- ger,” says Green. “Tere’s no excuse for it. No one wants to spend that extra one to two minutes to proceed cautiously through a school site.” Green also said he has little patience
for the excuses made by transportation officials elsewhere who claim California’s program would not work in their state because it takes too much time and be- cause the students could “freeze to death” or create “anarchy” on the bus. To Green, none of these are valid arguments. “If you have good student management
skills and the support of your administra- tion, you won’t have chaos on the bus,” Green says, adding that proper discipline and protection from the elements, even in snowy regions, are basically non-issues. “Also, if you have a driver out there, you
can expedite the crossing and you may even save time. Tere is simply no excuse for not doing it — if you eliminate these three — other than you just don’t want to do it.” Since Rhode Island passed legislation in
1986 requiring bus monitors for K-5 stu- dents, not one student has been killed in a school bus accident. Bus monitors also conduct a safety check outside the bus before the driver pulls away. Green says that several states have
shown interest in California’s escort pro- gram but have yet to enact legislation. “Now people seem to want to talk
about it, so hopefully that’s progress,” says Green. “Even with the discussion about escorted crossing, school buses are still the safest form of transportation.” Dave Yarian, transportation director at
Derry Township (Pa.) School District, has also implemented a safety system that has been in existence for many years to help keep his students out of harm’s way — “bus corrals,” or separate school bus parking lots, that students will access via
sidewalks leading from the large campus housing an elementary, middle and high school. He says the recently adopted master plan is a preventative measure designed to alleviate traffic and prevent future accidents. “One of the purposes is to look at traffic
flow and to separate vehicle traffic from bus traffic from pedestrian traffic. Te bus corral will have its own entrance and exit off a public street,” says Yarian. “We will paint a line six feet away from the side- walk for when children get off, so when buses are driving away, they’re not moving right by where the students are walking. In the afternoon, buses will line up diagonal- ly, so that the drivers can see the students lining up. Teachers will be stationed along the sides to ensure all the children are on board before any bus drives away.” Once the two-tier
dismissal system
takes effect this fall, more teachers will be available to supervise the students during loading and unloading. “One of the advantages of going to the
two-tier system is we’re dismissing high school and middle school together. By do- ing these grades all at one time, that means the teachers are all available,” he says. Ted Finlayson-Schueler, a pupil transpor-
tation consultant and owner of SafetyRules!, says the Derry Township plan sounds to him like a good one. Keeping other vehicles away from the buses is the first necessary step for a successful bus corral. He recommends that the optimal and
safest pattern to stage the buses is “her- ringbone,” or parked at an approximately 75-degree angle to the curb, and far enough away from the curb so drivers can pull the bus into their stall and then drive away without backing. “As the driver pulls away he or she has
clear vision of the path in front of them. If this is what this district is doing, then I would say that it is a quite progressive and well-planned situation,” Finlayson-Schueler adds.
SENSING DANGER BEFORE IT STRIKES Michael Udolph of National Patent Ana-
lytical Systems notes that his company’s advanced pedestrian detection
system
(APDS) was specifically designed to keep students out of the school bus danger
zone. Te C.A.R.E. detector system uses the latest Doppler radar technology to sense the presence of children in the danger zone and sets off an alarm on the dashboard. “On the inside, it lets the drivers know
exactly where the kids are. Te alarm is also audible outside,” Udolph says. “We have about 3,000 installations across the U.S. in several states, including Ohio, New Jersey and South Carolina. We have two recorded ‘saves’ where the bus drivers normally would have hit the child: one in South Carolina and the other in Georgia.” Since the APDS first entered the market in 1987, client districts have increasingly added the device to their specs when or- dering new buses, according to Udolph. “I feel bad for the bus drivers because
the only thing they have is their own professionalism, their training and their mirrors. Tere’s a lot of pressure on them,” Udolph says. “Nothing replaces the bus driver. But if new safety tools are available, I think they should be looked at.” Having worked as a transportation di-
rector for over 10 years, Fischer agrees that the bus driver’s knowledge and train- ing are indispensable. He believes that regular training on FMVSS 111, including proper mirror and seat adjustment, is cru- cial in preventing accidents such as those that occurred in Georgia. If state officials and school districts
will not consider alternatives such as student escorts and bus corrals, Fischer suggests implementing a few common- sense safety procedures. “Transportation supervisors must read
the FMVSS 111 standard and enforce it. How? By walking their fleet. You’d be amazed what you can see when you walk your fleet: the mirrors that are out of ad- justment, the mud and dirt, the scratches and body damage,” he says. “Also, go out on the road and observe your drivers on their routes. Another good practice is to have safety meetings once a month just to remind people.” Adds Fischer: “Drivers, check your
mirrors every day to eliminate blind spots. Te 10-foot danger zone is the biggest myth there is. Each driver has a different danger zone. If the danger zone is 10 feet, then why do we have 12 feet on the 111 standard?” n
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