The outside the school bus as detected by Gatekeeper’s Pedestrian Protector camera, one of many technological solutions designed to be the eyes of school bus drivers when loading and unloading students.
“Because of the lack of drivers doubling up runs,
they’re making kids walk further to a bus stop to save time,” he said. “We’ve got more kids crossing the road- way before the bus arrives.” Fischer said that when a bus is stopped on a Califor-
nia highway or private road to load or unload students, and traffic is not controlled by a traffic officer or traffic control system, state law requires the bus driver to escort all students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade to and from the bus stop using an approved hand-held stop sign. Students walk in front of the bus as they cross the road or highway. The bus driver turns the ignition off and takes the keys with them. While much of the industry’s attention is paid to
motorists who illegally pass school bus stops, 714 of the 1,267 recorded student fatalities over 53 years of National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey results were caused by the students’ school buses and driver, not a passing motorist. Fischer warned that bus driver complacency leads to
undesirable outcomes for students. He pointed to Sec- tion 10 of the CDL manual, which he said is very clear on Danger Zones, loading and unloading, and related topics. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 111 also addresses similar issues related to proper school bus mirror adjustment to increase bus driver visibility and
reduce blind spots. Fischer regularly trains on the “rock and roll” method that entails the bus driver maneuvering in their seat to help ensure no students are remaining in the Danger Zone before the vehicle starts up. He also advocates for counting students away from the bus stop. The logic goes that if four students exit the bus, the driv- er needs to count that same number of students as they walk away from the bus stop and out of harm’s way. Driver training is key and good technology augments awareness, he added.
Student Detection Solutions Thomas Built Buses’ PerimeterView 360 camera pack-
age provides a bird’s-eye view showing all areas around the school bus through wide-angle cameras installed in the front, back and sides for crisp, real-time video foot- age. Drivers can access all four camera feeds at once or toggle between individual screens. Drivers are alerted via an in-cabin tablet, seat haptics,
an audible alarm, and the lights. “Auto reversing doors help ensure students get on
and off the bus safely,” added Kendra Eads, Thomas Built Buses vice president of engineering. “That can be a very distracting time for a driver watching out for traffic or other hazards.” Saf-T-Zone Pedestrian Detection helps drivers detect
www.stnonline.com 23
PHOTO COURTESY OF GATEKEEPER
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
