School Bus Safety. Overkill?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I remember when I lived in North Carolina, I would take I-40 home every afternoon. I always managed to go thru Winston-Salem right after school got out. Apparently, there was a law prohibiting school busses from going faster than 35 or 40 MPH, even on the interstate. In my opinion, this was dangerous.

In Virginia (and other states, I’m told) school busses have a contraption on the front bumber that swings out when the driver discharges a student, causing the child to walk far enough in front of the bus so the driver can see the child and make sure he is out of the way before proceeding.

Also, in Virginia school busses have a strobe light attached to the top of the bus. I assume so the bus can been seen from a distance??

I think it’s great that a school bus stops at RR crossings, but I think some of this other stuff is a bit much. Opinions?

Eric

2

I assume you don’t have children who ride a school bus to school and back.

Young children have a tendency to dart out into traffic immediately after exiting a school bus. Many also run across the street without looking the moment the school bus arrives at their stop.

Then there are those ignorant drivers who fail to see a freakin’ huge yellow bus with flashing lights that is stopped and they just keep on driving and hit some kid dashing across the street.

As I said, I assume you don’t have children who ride a school bus to school and back.

3

Yes there are lots of schoolbus rules of questionable worth but only really serves to pacify the parents of the school children.

as for the RR rules - the greatest chance of stalling is when stopped or just starting from a stop - so the bus stops then starts and stalls and rolls right on the the tracks just when a high speed acela train is comming - It’s going to happen, just a matter of time.

4

My son’s bus was pulling into the school lot and was blinded by the sun, so she proceeded anyway (sheesh) and got HIT BY A MOVING VAN! Twenty-seven kids were taken to area hospitals (including my son!). We can’t trust the drivers to be perfect. Every little caution device helps.

I live a couple miles from where a full bus was taken out by a train. Seven kids were killed. It was horrible. The drivers make huge mistakes all the time. We just have to do what we can to protect the kids in spite of the drivers.

5

All these regulations and yet no seatbelts on the bus.

Of course if they were riding with their mother they would have to buckled up by law in most states.

6

Yes, but in a bus with 40 kids and one driver, most kids would be wonking each other with the buckles.

7

I asked the seatbelt question when my kid got in his bus accident. They told me that there is a higher likelihood of injury on a bus with seatbelts. I didn’t buy it for a second.

8

Cecil speaks on Why are there no seatbelts on school buses? Basically, it wouldn’t make them safer, and might even cause more injuries.

9

I read somewhere (possibly in one of Cecil’s columns, actually) that seat belts aren’t used on school busses because only about 11 kids a year die in school bus accidents and seat belts wouldn’t do much to bring that number down.

10

Yes, but it’s much easier to miss a speeding train if you don’t stop. By stopping the bus driver has more time to look for a train before proceeding over the track. After all, on a bus you’d pretty much have to stop anyway to keep the kids from banging their heads off the ceiling.